on all fours

on all fours idiom
On one's hands and knees, as in Seven of us were on all fours, looking for the lost earring in the sand. In this idiom fours refers to the four limbs. [1300s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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