quarter

noun quarters

1. broadly, countable, uncountable Each of four equal parts into which something can be divided; a fourth part. I ate a quarter of the pizza.

   Similar: fourth, fourth part, one-fourth, one-quarter, ¼

2. countable, historical, uncountable A measure of capacity used chiefly for grain or coal, varying greatly in quantity by time and location. One of these is 1 Hen. V, cap. 10, defining the quarter of corn to be eight struck bushels, and putting fines on purveyors who take more.
3. countable, uncountable A fourth part of a pound; approximately 113 grams.
4. countable, historical, uncountable A measure of length; originally a fourth part of an ell, now chiefly a fourth part of a yard.
5. countable, historical, uncountable A fourth part of the night; one of the watches or divisions of the night. And aboute the fourth quartre of the nyght, he cam unto them, walkinge apon the see [...].
6. countable, uncountable A fourth part of the year; 3 months; a term or season. The FBI began publishing national quarterly crime reports last year, but has not done so for the first two quarters of 2021, stating that they require at least 60% of agencies to submit NIBRS data in order to publish quarterly data.
7. countable, uncountable A fourth part of an hour; a period of fifteen minutes, especially with reference to the quarter before or after the hour. An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces.
8. countable, historical, uncountable A fourth part of a hundredweight.
9. countable, uncountable A fourth part of a coat of arms, or the charge on it, larger than a canton and normally on the upper dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side.
10. Canada, US, countable, uncountable A quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada.

    Similar: two bits

11. countable, uncountable One of four equal periods into which a game is divided.
12. countable, historical, uncountable A quarter of an acre or 40 roods.
13. countable, uncountable A region or place. I am to haste, / And all who under me thir Banners wave, / Homeward with flying march where we possess / The Quarters of the North […].
14. countable, uncountable Each of four parts into which the earth or sky is divided, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass.
15. countable, uncountable A division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc. She could not suggest in what quarter of London the shop in question was likely to be as the deceased was accustomed to go about a good deal.

    Similar: district, ward, neighborhood, ghetto, borough, capitoulate

16. countable, uncountable One's residence or dwelling-place; (in plural) rooms, lodgings, especially as allocated to soldiers or domestic staff.
17. archaic, countable, figuratively, uncountable A topic or area of endeavour. “I'll tell you something, too,” retorted the captain, duskily flushing. “I wouldn't sail this ship for the man you are, if you went upon your knees. I've dealt with gentlemen up to now.” “I can tell you the names of a number of gentlemen you'll never deal with any more, and that's the whole of Longh
18. countable, uncountable The aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern. I was one morning walking the deck, when Rogers, whose watch it was, sitting upon the quarter, called to me in his usual style, ‘Come here, Bill.’
19. countable, uncountable The part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin. [A]t last she kicked right over the carriage pole and fell down, after giving me a severe blow on my near quarter.
20. countable, uncountable The back and sides of the upper of a shoe, extending around the wearer's heel to meet the vamp.
21. countable, often, plural, uncountable A section (of a population), especially one having a particular set of values or interests. We got help form every quarter.
22. countable, obsolete, uncountable Relations between people. In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom.
23. countable, uncountable Accommodation given to a defeated opponent; mercy; exemption from being killed. Hard fighting and long labour they had still; for the Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair, and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked for no quarter.
24. abbreviation, archaic, countable, uncountable A quarterback.
25. abbreviation, archaic, countable, slang, uncountable A quartermaster; a quartermaster sergeant. Tietjens said: ‘Send the Canadian sergeant-major to me at the double….’ to the quarter.
26. abbreviation, countable, uncountable A quarterfinal.

Similar: trimester, cour

adjective

1. not comparable Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter.
2. not comparable Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹⁄₄, 25%). a quarter hour; a quarter century; a quarter note; a quarter pound
3. not comparable Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year. A quarter day is one terminating a quarter of the year.

Opposite: quadruple

verb quarters · quartering · quartered

1. transitive To divide into quarters; to divide by four.
2. transitive To provide housing for (usually military personnel or equipment). Quarter the horses in the third stable.
3. intransitive To lodge; to have a temporary residence.

   Similar: stay over

4. transitive To quartersaw. But there is, as in other woods, a great deal of difference between this and the quartered timber.
5. historical, transitive To execute (someone) by tying each limb to a different animal (such as a horse) and driving them in different directions.
6. To display different coats of arms in the quarters of a shield. It [the Central London Railway] assumed a modest and entirely heraldic device, quartering the arms of the City of London, the parishes of St. George's, Holborn (St. George and the dragon) and St. Marylebone (the Virgin and Child between two lilies […]), and the county of Middlesex, surmounted by the
7. transitive To range to and fro over an area; to move from point to point.

Similar: stop · Opposite: quadruple

verb quarters · quartering · quartered

1. obsolete 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 upon us for quartering

proper noun

1. A village in South Lanarkshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS7251).