two-by-four

1. 1.

   a timber measuring (slightly under) 2 inches by 4 inches in cross section

   Broadertimber

Questions about two-by-four

What does two-by-four mean?

two-by-four means "a timber measuring (slightly under) 2 inches by 4 inches in cross section".

How many syllables are in two-by-four?

two-by-four has 3 syllables and divides as two--by--four under the regular spelling rules. It is not in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, so that comes from how the word is written rather than from a recorded pronunciation, and no stress or phonetic transcription is claimed for it.

Is two-by-four a common word?

two-by-four is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.