four-and-nine

noun

A cheap hat.

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Meanings

nounfour-and-nine (plural four-and-nines)

plural four-and-nines

  1. UKobsoleteslangA cheap hat.

    Around me young and old, / Take this advice of mine, / When you want a hat, / Don't buy a four and nine.

    1850, William Mark Clark, Clark's Orphean Warbler (page 424): Four and Nine Tile (song)

Origin

From the price of four shillings and ninepence, at which a once noted advertising hat-maker sold his hats.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

four-and-nine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-and-nine

MLA

“four-and-nine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-and-nine. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “four-and-nine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-and-nine.

Source: four-and-nine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.