From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Quarter \Quar"ter\ (kw[aum]r"t[~e]r), noun [F. quartier, L. quartarius a fourth part, fr. quartus the fourth. See {Quart}.]
1. One of four equal parts into which anything is divided, or is regarded as divided; a fourth part or portion; as, a quarter of a dollar, of a pound, of a yard, of an hour, etc. Hence, specifically: (a) The fourth of a hundred-weight, being 25 or 28 pounds, according as the hundredweight is reckoned at 100 or 112 pounds. (b) The fourth of a ton in weight, or eight bushels of grain; as, a quarter of wheat; also, the fourth part of a chaldron of coal. --Hutton. (c) (Astron.) The fourth part of the moon's period, or monthly revolution; as, the first quarter after the change or full. (d) One limb of a quadruped with the adjacent parts; one fourth part of the carcass of a slaughtered animal, including a leg; as, the fore quarters; the hind quarters. (e) That part of a boot or shoe which forms the side, from the heel to the vamp. (f) (Far.) That part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, being the side of the coffin. (g) A term of study in a seminary, college, etc, etc.; properly, a fourth part of the year, but often longer or shorter. (h) pl. (Mil.) The encampment on one of the principal passages round a place besieged, to prevent relief and intercept convoys. (i) (Naut.) The after-part of a vessel's side, generally corresponding in extent with the quarter-deck; also, the part of the yardarm outside of the slings. (j) (Her.) One of the divisions of an escutcheon when it is divided into four portions by a horizontal and a perpendicular line meeting in the fess point.
Note: When two coats of arms are united upon one escutcheon, as in case of marriage, the first and fourth quarters display one shield, the second and third the other. See {Quarter}, verb (used with an object), 5. (k) One of the four parts into which the horizon is regarded as divided; a cardinal point; a direction' principal division; a region; a territory.
Scouts each coast light-armed scour, Each quarter, to descry the distant foe. --Milton. (l) A division of a town, city, or county; a particular district; a locality; as, the Latin quarter in Paris. (m) (Arch.) A small upright timber post, used in partitions; -- in the United States more commonly called {stud}. (n) (Naut.) The fourth part of the distance from one point of the compass to another, being the fourth part of 11[deg] 15', that is, about 2[deg] 49'; -- called also {quarter point}.
2. Proper station; specific place; assigned position; special location.
Swift to their several quarters hasted then The cumbrous elements. --Milton. Hence, specifically: (a) (Naut.) A station at which officers and men are posted in battle; -- usually in the plural. (b) Place of lodging or temporary residence; shelter; entertainment; -- usually in the plural.
The banter turned as to what quarters each would find. --W. Irving. (c) pl. (Mil.) A station or encampment occupied by troops; a place of lodging for soldiers or officers; as, winter quarters. (d) Treatment shown by an enemy; mercy; especially, the act of sparing the life a conquered enemy; a refraining from pushing one's advantage to extremes.
He magnified his own clemency, now they were at his mercy, to offer them quarter for their lives. --Clarendon.
Cocks and lambs . . . at the mercy of cats and wolves . . . must never expect better quarter. --L'Estrange.
3. Friendship; amity; concord. [Obs.] To keep quarter, to keep one's proper place, and so be on good terms with another. [Obs.]
In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom. --Shak.
I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place, . . . and yet kept good quarter between themselves. --Bacon.
{False quarter}, a cleft in the quarter of a horse's foot.
{Fifth quarter}, the hide and fat; -- a butcher's term.
{On the quarter} (Naut.), in a direction between abeam and astern; opposite, or nearly opposite, a vessel's quarter.
{Quarter aspect}. (Astrol.) Same as {Quadrate}.
{Quarter back} (Football), the player who has position next behind center rush, and receives the ball on the snap back.
{Quarter badge} (Naut.), an ornament on the side of a vessel near, the stern. --Mar. Dict.
{Quarter bill} (Naut.), a list specifying the different stations to be taken by the officers and crew in time of action, and the names of the men assigned to each.
{Quarter block} (Naut.), a block fitted under the quarters of a yard on each side of the slings, through which the clew lines and sheets are reeved. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
{Quarter boat} (Naut.), a boat hung at a vessel's quarter.
{Quarter cloths} (Naut.), long pieces of painted canvas, used to cover the quarter netting.
{Quarter day}, a day regarded as terminating a quarter of the year; hence, one on which any payment, especially rent, becomes due. In matters influenced by United States statutes, quarter days are the first days of January, April, July, and October. In New York and many other places, as between landlord and tenant, they are the first days of May, August, November, and February. The quarter days usually recognized in England are 25th of March (Lady Day), the 24th of June (Midsummer Day), the 29th of September (Michaelmas Day), and the 25th of December (Christmas Day).
{Quarter face}, in fine arts, portrait painting, etc., a face turned away so that but one quarter is visible.
{Quarter gallery} (Naut.), a balcony on the quarter of a ship. See {Gallery}, 4.
{Quarter gunner} (Naut.), a petty officer who assists the gunner.
{Quarter look}, a side glance. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
{Quarter nettings} (Naut.), hammock nettings along the quarter rails.
{Quarter note} (Mus.), a note equal in duration to half a minim or a fourth of semibreve; a crochet.
{Quarter pieces} (Naut.), several pieces of timber at the after-part of the quarter gallery, near the taffrail. --Totten.
{Quarter point}. (Naut.) See {Quarter}, noun, 1 (n) .
{Quarter railing}, or {Quarter rails} (Naut.), narrow molded planks reaching from the top of the stern to the gangway, serving as a fence to the quarter-deck.
{Quarter sessions} (Eng. Law), a general court of criminal jurisdiction held quarterly by the justices of peace in counties and by the recorders in boroughs.
{Quarter square} (Math.), the fourth part of the square of a number. Tables of quarter squares have been devised to save labor in multiplying numbers.
{Quarter turn}, {Quarter turn belt} (Mach.), an arrangement in which a belt transmits motion between two shafts which are at right angles with each other.
{Quarter watch} (Naut.), a subdivision of the full watch (one fourth of the crew) on a man-of- war.
{To give quarter}, or {To show quarter} (Mil.), to accept as prisoner, on submission in battle; to forbear to kill, as a vanquished enemy.
{To keep quarter}. See {Quarter}, noun, 3.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Quarter \Quar"ter\ (kw[aum]r"t[~e]r), verb (used without an object) To lodge; to have a temporary residence.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Quarter \Quar"ter\ (kw[aum]r"t[~e]r), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Quartered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Quartering}.]
1. To divide into four equal parts.
2. To divide; to separate into parts or regions.
Then sailors quartered heaven. --Dryden.
3. To furnish with shelter or entertainment; to supply with the means of living for a time; especially, to furnish shelter to; as, to quarter soldiers.
They mean this night in Sardis to be quartered. --Shak.
4. To furnish as a portion; to allot. [R.]
This isle . . . He quarters to his blue-haired deities. -- Milton.
5. (Her.) To arrange (different coats of arms) upon one escutcheon, as when a man inherits from both father and mother the right to bear arms.
Note: When only two coats of arms are so combined they are arranged in four compartments. See {Quarter}, noun, 1 (f) .
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Quarter \Quar"ter\, verb (used without an object) [F. cartayer.] To drive a carriage so as to prevent the wheels from going into the ruts, or so that a rut shall be between the wheels.
Every creature that met us would rely on us for quartering. --De Quincey.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: one of four equal parts; "a quarter of a pound" [syn: {one-fourth}, {fourth}, {fourth part}, {twenty-five percent}, {quartern}]
2: a district of a city having some distinguishing character; "the Latin Quarter"
3: one of four periods of play into which some games are divided; "both teams scored in the first quarter"
4: a unit of time equal to 15 minutes or a quarter of an hour; "it's a quarter til 4"; "a quarter after 4 o'clock"
5: one of four periods into which the school year is divided; "the fall quarter ends at Christmas"
6: a fourth part of a year; three months; "unemployment fell during the last quarter"
7: one of the four major division of the compass; "the wind is coming from that quarter"
8: a quarter of a hundredweight (25 pounds)
9: a quarter of a hundredweight (28 pounds)
10: a United States coin worth one fourth of a dollar; "he fed four quarters into the slot machine"
11: an unspecified person; "he dropped a word in the right quarter"
12: the rear part of a ship [syn: {stern}, {after part}, {poop}, {tail}]
13: piece of leather that comprises the part of a shoe or boot covering the heel and joining the vamp
verb
1: provide housing for (military personnel) [syn: {billet}, {canton}]
2: pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his extremities, so as to execute him; "in the old days, people were drawn and quartered for certain crimes" [syn: {draw}, {draw and quarter}]
3: divide into quarters; "quarter an apple"
4: divide by four; divide into quarters
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
419 Moby Thesaurus words for "quarter": C, C-note, G, G-note, abode, abundant year, academic year, accommodate, accommodations, achievement, adjunct, aim, airspace, alerion, anchor, animal charge, annulet, annum, area, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, azimuth, azure, bandeau, bank, bar, bar sinister, barracks, barrio, baton, beam, bearing, bearings, bed, belt, bend, bend sinister, benevolence, bent, berth, billet, billet at, bissextile year, bivouac, blazon, blazonry, board, border, bordure, broad arrow, broadside, buck, bunk, burrow, cadency mark, calendar month, calendar year, camp, canton, cantonment, cartwheel, casern, cent, century, chambers, chaplet, charge, cheek, chevron, chief, chop, clemency, coast, coat of arms, cockatrice, colonize, come to anchor, commiseration, common year, compassion, component, condolence, confines, continental shelf, contingent, copper, coronet, corridor, country, course, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, cross section, crown, current, day, decade, decennary, decennium, defective year, department, detachment, detail, device, difference, differencing, dime, direction, direction line, district, division, dole, dollar, dollar bill, domesticate, domicile, domiciliate, drift, drop anchor, dwelling, eagle, ensconce, entertain, environs, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, establish residence, falcon, farthing, favor, feeling, fess, fess point, field, fifty cents, file, fin, fiscal year, fish, five cents, five hundred dollars, five-dollar bill, five-hundred-dollar bill, five-spot, fiver, flanch, flank, fleur-de-lis, forbearance, forgiveness, fortnight, four bits, fourth, fourth part, fraction, fret, frogskin, fur, fusil, garland, grace, grand, griffin, ground, gules, gyron, habitation, half G, half a C, half dollar, half grand, hand, handedness, harbor, hatchment, haunch, heading, heartland, helmet, helmsmanship, heraldic device, hinterland, hip, hive, home, honor point, hour, house, humanity, hundred-dollar bill, hut, impalement, impaling, inclination, inescutcheon, inhabit, installment, iron man, item, jowl, keep house, kindness, label, land, laterality, lay, leap year, leniency, lie, line, line of direction, line of march, lion, live at, living quarters, locale, locality, locate, location, lodge, lodgings, lozenge, lunar month, lunar year, lunation, luster, lustrum, man-hour, mantling, many-sidedness, marshaling, martlet, mascle, mercifulness, mercy, metal, microsecond, milieu, mill, millennium, millisecond, minute, mitigation, moment, month, moon, moor, motto, move, mullet, multilaterality, navigation, neighborhood, nest, nickel, nombril point, octofoil, offshore rights, one-fourth, or, ordinary, orientation, orle, pale, paly, parcel, pardon, park, part, particular, parts, pathos, pean, penny, people, percentage, perch, pheon, piloting, pity, place, planking, point, portion, post, precinct, precincts, premises, profile, purlieus, purpure, put up, quadrant, quadrature, quadrisect, quart, quartering, quartern, quarters, quarto, quinquennium, quota, random sample, range, red cent, region, regular year, relief, relocate, remainder, reprieve, reside, residence, room, rooms, roost, rose, run, ruth, sable, salient, saltire, sample, sampling, sawbuck, scutcheon, second, section, sector, segment, self-pity, semester, session, set, set up housekeeping, set up shop, settle, settle down, share, shelter, shield, shore, side, sidereal year, siding, silver dollar, sit down, skin, smacker, soil, solar year, space, spot, spread eagle, squat, stable, stand, station, stay at, steerage, steering, strike root, subdivision, subgroup, subordinary, subspecies, sun, sympathy, take residence at, take root, take up residence, temple, ten cents, ten-spot, tendency, tenne, tenner, tenor, term, terrain, territory, thousand dollars, thousand-dollar bill, three-mile limit, tincture, torse, track, trend, tressure, trimester, twelve-mile limit, twelvemonth, twenty-dollar bill, twenty-five cents, twenty-five percent, two bits, two-dollar bill, two-spot, unicorn, unilaterality, vair, vert, vicinage, vicinity, way, week, weekday, wreath, yale, yard, year, zone
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:
quarter n. Two bits. This in turn comes from the 'pieces of eight' famed in pirate movies -- Spanish silver crowns that could be broken into eight pie-slice-shaped 'bits' to make change. Early in American history the Spanish coin was considered equal to a dollar, so each of these 'bits' was considered worth 12.5 cents. Syn. {tayste}, {crumb}, {quad}. Usage: rare. General discussion of such terms is under {nybble}.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
quarter Two bits. This in turn comes from the "pieces of eight" famed in pirate movies - Spanish silver crowns that could be broken into eight pie-slice-shaped "bits" to make change. Early in American history the Spanish coin was considered equal to a dollar, so each of these "bits" was considered worth 12.5 cents. Usage: rare. Synonyms: {tayste}, {crumb}, {quad}. See also {nickle}, {nibble}, {byte}, {dynner}. [{Jargon File}] (1995-01-25)
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