■ ordinal number
1》 constituting number four in a sequence; 4th.
2》 ( a ~/one ~ ) chiefly N. Amer. a quarter.
3》 Music an interval spanning four consecutive notes in a diatonic scale, in particular (also perfect ~ ) an interval of two tones and a semitone.
↘ Music the note which is higher by this interval than the tonic of a diatonic scale or root of a chord.
Phrases
the ~ estate the press; journalism.
Derivatives
~ly adverb