How to Use two-by-four in a Sentence

two-by-four

noun
  • It is believed his killer struck him with a two-by-four.
    — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 23 Feb. 2026
  • But there’s more than two-by-fours and branches lying around.
    — Kayla Levy, Curbed, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Taylor recommends a two-by-four or a four-by-four.
    — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 2 June 2026
  • O'Hara said there was a two-by-four blocking the doors on the side of the church from where the suspect shot.
    — Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Nichols armed himself with a two-by-four piece of lumber, climbed through a bathroom window and found Pulley alone in her bed.
    — Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 9 Dec. 2025
  • Nichols armed himself with a two-by-four piece of lumber, climbed through a bathroom window and found Pulley alone in her bed.
    — Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 8 Dec. 2025
  • Nichols armed himself with a two-by-four piece of lumber, climbed through a bathroom window and found Pulley alone in her bed.
    — Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Dec. 2025
  • But Indy got hit with a two-by-four with Tyrese Haliburton’s horrific Achilles tear in the first quarter of Game 7 of the finals.
    — David Aldridge, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Although the investigation is ongoing, O’Hara said most of the shooting appeared to have taken place from outside of the building and some of the doors to the church had been barricaded with two-by-fours from the outside.
    — Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, had reportedly barricaded the doors of the church by placing two-by-fours in the handles of the exits before shooting through the windows.
    — Bethany Brown, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Gunfire came from outside the sanctuary while students, staff and parishioners were gathered for the service, per earlier coverage by PEOPLE — doors had been obstructed with two-by-fours before the shooting began.
    — Christina Coulter, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The Dodgers hit the Arizona Diamondbacks with a two-by-four on Opening Day, using a pair of four-run innings highlighted by home runs from Andy Pages and Will Smith to beat the Diamondbacks, 8-2, on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.
    — Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said Wednesday that Westman had placed two-by-fours through the doors handles of two of Annunciation Catholic Church's exits from the outside, where the shooter, identified by police as Robin Westman, 23, fired.
    — Janelle Griffith, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'two-by-four.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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