The Rice University Neologisms Database

A type of living situation in which four people living together in a suite move their furniture into one room and leave the other A four-man is a type of living accommodation in which four undergrads living in a suite (a housing situation in which two rooms share a bathroom) move their furniture into one room and leave the other empty. They do this so that they can have parties in the empty room. This type of situation is only found in certain colleges and is more common in suites that do not have a common room. Essentially, one room is made into a common room, or rather a party room, while the other is used mainly for sleeping. The meaning four-man is rather easy to grasp. From the roots, it is apparent that the term deals with four people. In college, dormitories are usually described as singles, four-person suite, six-person suite, etc. The term four-man is thus somewhat analogous in form to other descriptions of rooming accommodations. Essentially, the term four-man is just another term used to describe a particular rooming accommodation.