A West Arabic numeral, ultimately from Indic numerals (compare Devanagari ४(4)), a cursive form of four lines (to represent the number four) arranged in the shape of a cross (resembling +). See 4 § Evolution of the Hindu-Arabic digit for more.
(phonetics, often superscript) The pitch of a tone, either high or low depending on local convention (though not as high or low as 5, if '5' is also used).
(phonetics, Sinosphere, often superscript) The tone number 4, typically identified with light rising yangshang (陽上). May be identified with entering ru tone (入) if the yin–yang distinction is not made.
“He wrote, ‘Hey, Laurbell! What’s up? How r u & ur roomie? Mom & I miss u x a zillion! We decided 2 turn ur room into storage 4 the antiques we r going 2 buy. Hope u r finding time 2 chillax. Give Wisp a hug. G2G. Write me back! Luv, Dad.’”
2025 December 1, Catriona Innes, “I'm a party girl - could being hypnotised stop me from binge drinking?”, in Cosmopolitan[1], archived from the original on 8 April 2026:
Or, I’ll say yes to a cocktail after a pint and then have to give my cocktail away to someone else as I can’t drink it. Last night I said "go on" to a Happy Hour offer of 2-4-1 on cocktails and then had to throw the second one away.