four-speed

noun

Having four forward speeds.

“four-speed manual”

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Meanings

nounfour-speed (countable and uncountable, plural four-speeds)

plural four-speeds · alternative four speed

  1. attributiveuncountableHaving four forward speeds.

    My car has a four-speed transmission. It is not as efficient as my daughter's five-speed.

    1 more example

    Power is derived from a British United Traction Limited "A"-type 150-h.p. six-cylinder horizontal diesel engine; this drives through a fluid flywheel, and thence through a free wheel unit to a four-speed epicyclic gearbox.

    1958 April 28, “Diesel Railbus for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 275
  2. countableuncountableA transmission that has four forward speeds (it might or might not be a manual transmission); (metonymic) a vehicle with such a transmission.

    four-speed manual

    1 more example

    four-speed automatic

    1. countablehistoricalinformalspecificallyuncountableA manual transmission with four forward speeds; (metonymic) a vehicle with such a transmission.

      A: Was your dad's Mustang a four-speed? B: No, it was an automatic.

Origin

The sense specific to a manual transmission came from an era when manual transmissions in passenger cars were usually four-speeds but automatics were usually three-speeds or two-speeds.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

four-speed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-speed

MLA

“four-speed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-speed. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “four-speed,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/four-speed.

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