Using number keys as meta keys in emacs

I'm learning emacs and am trying to implement my standard keyboard shortcuts. Currently I use the nu开发者_JS百科mber keys as meta keys, for instance I hold 4 and press N to highlight the previous word, but if I press and release 4 alone then the number 4 is entered into the text buffer.

Is it possible to implement this behavior in emacs? It would be great if I could just do

(global-set-key (kbd "4-N") 'highlight_left)

Key-chord may be what you want.

You can get something similar easily: Define 4 as a prefix key, with 4 4 to insert 4 and 4 N to highlight etc. (No, it's not the same thing -- here you don't hold 4 down while hitting N etc.)