crawling on all fours; being on hands and knees
Describes the posture or action of being on hands and knees, often used for babies or when moving low to the ground. Related to 四つん這い (よつんばい).
See also: 四つん這い
The baby is crawling around the room on all fours.
He got down on his hands and knees and searched for the contact lens that had fallen on the floor.
Mixed kanji-kana spelling, also common.
Formed from 四つ, “four,” and 這い, the noun form of 這う, “to crawl,” with voicing in the compound.