<B>quail</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>quails</B> or (collectively) <B>quail.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of various plump game birds belonging to the same family as chickens and pheasants, especially the bobwhite and the Gambel's quail. <BR> <I>Ex. If you were to ask whether the bobwhite is a quail or a partridge, the answer would depend on the part of the country you were in. In the East, the name quail is used interchangeably with bobwhite: bobwhite is quail and quail is bobwhite. In the South bobwhite is called partridge (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a good-looking young woman. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Archaic.) a courtesan. <BR> <I>Ex. Here's Agamemnon--an honest fellow enough, and one that loves quails (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quail">
<B>quail</B> (2), intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to be afraid; lose courage; shrink back in fear. <BR> <I>Ex. The slave quailed at hismaster's look. They ... felt their hearts quailing under their multiplied hardships (Washington Irving). She made Barnes quail before her by the shafts of contempt which she flashed at him (Thackeray).</I> (SYN) quake, cower, flinch. <DD><B> 2. </B>to bend or shake as if in fear. <BR> <I>Ex. trees that quail before a blast of wind.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quaint">
<B>quaint, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>strange or odd in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way. <BR> <I>Ex. Old photographs seem quaint to us today.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>old-fashioned but picturesque or attractive. <BR> <I>Ex. a quaint old house.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) wise; skilled; clever. <BR> <I>Ex. to show how quaint an orator you are (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) skillfully made; pretty; elegant; fine. <BR> <I>Ex. I never saw a better-fashion'd gown, More quaint, more pleasing (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) strange; odd; singular. <BR> <I>Ex. In his wizard habit strange, Came forth,--a quaint and fearful sight (Scott).</I> adv. <B>quaintly.</B> noun <B>quaintness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quake">
<B>quake, </B>verb, <B>quaked,</B> <B>quaking,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to shake or tremble. <BR> <I>Ex. She quaked with fear. Quake in the present winter's state and wish That warmer days would come (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to move convulsively; rock violently. <BR> <I>Ex. The earth quaked. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence (Nahum 1:5).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a shaking or trembling. <DD><B> 2. </B>an earthquake. </DL>
<A NAME="quakegrass">
<B>quake grass,</B> <B>=quaking grass.</B></DL>
<A NAME="quaker">
<B>quaker, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person or thing that quakes. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of various plain-colored birds and moths. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a quaker or Quaker. <BR><I>expr. <B>quakers,</B> </I>(British Dialect.) quaking grass. <BR> <I>Ex. It's this green all along this valley, ... the quakers on the slopes, and the pines up there on the crests (Berton Roueche).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quaker">
<B>Quaker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a member of a Christian church called the Society of Friends that believes in simple manners and clothes and simple religious services; Friend. Quakers are opposed to war and to taking oaths. The Quakers were founded by George Fox in the mid-1600's. <BR> <I>Ex. What a balm and a solace it is ... to ... seat yourself for a quiet half hour ... among the gentle Quakers (Charles Lamb).</I> </DL>
<B>Quakeress, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Quaker woman or girl. </DL>
<A NAME="quakergrass">
<B>quaker grass,</B> <B>=quaking grass.</B></DL>
<A NAME="quakergun">
<B>Quaker gun,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a dummy gun, as in a ship or fort. </DL>
<A NAME="quakerish">
<B>Quakerish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like the Quakers; suitable for Quakers. <BR> <I>Ex. Don't address me as if I were a beauty; I am your plain Quakerish governess (Charlotte Bronte).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quakerism">
<B>Quakerism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the principles and customs of the Quakers. <BR> <I>Ex. He has once or twice referred to Quakerism as the wellspring of his beliefs (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quakerlady">
<B>quaker-lady, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small, delicate plant with bluish flowers; innocence or bluet. </DL>
<A NAME="quakerly">
<B>Quakerly, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> like or suitable for a Quaker. <DD><I>adv. </I> after the fashion of the Quakers. </DL>
<A NAME="quakermeeting">
<B>Quaker meeting,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a religious service of Quakers, during which there may be long periods of silence. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) a silent group. </DL>
<A NAME="quakers">
<B>quakers, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>quaker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quakerstate">
<B>Quaker State,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nickname for Pennsylvania. </DL>
<B>quakiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the condition of being quaky or shaking. <BR> <I>Ex. the quakiness of a bog.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quaking">
<B>quaking, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that quakes; shaking; trembling. adv. <B>quakingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quakingaspen">
<B>quaking aspen,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an American poplar tree with flat, delicate stems and leaves that tremble in the slightest breeze. </DL>
<A NAME="quakinggrass">
<B>quaking grass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various grasses having spikelets on the slender branches of the panicle that move at the slightest breeze. </DL>
<B>quale, </B>noun, pl. <B>qualia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Philosophy.) a quality thought of apart from any object or real thing; an abstraction. <I>Sweetness</I> is a quale when it is considered separately from any particular thing, such as an apple. </DL>
<A NAME="qualifiable">
<B>qualifiable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be qualified or modified. </DL>
<A NAME="qualification">
<B>qualification, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>that which makes a person fit for a job, task, office, or function. <BR> <I>Ex. To know the trail is one qualification for a guide.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a necessary condition which must be fulfilled or complied with before a certain right can be acquired or exercised or an office held. <BR> <I>Ex. the qualifications for voting.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>that which limits, changes, or makes less free and full. <BR> <I>Ex. His pleasure had one qualification; his friends could not enjoy it, too.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a modification; limitation; restriction. <BR> <I>Ex. The statement was made without any qualification.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>the process of qualifying. <DD><B> 6. </B>the state of being qualified. </DL>
<A NAME="qualificative">
<B>qualificative, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> serving to qualify or modify. <DD><I>noun </I> something serving to qualify, such as a qualifying term or expression. <BR> <I>Ex. These pedagogical reflections were interrupted by a fellow farther along the bar, who was using qualificatives that the bartender on duty ... couldn't go along with (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="qualificator">
<B>qualificator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an officer in the Roman Catholic Church whose business it is to examine causes and prepare them for trial. </DL>
<A NAME="qualified">
<B>qualified, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having the desirable or required qualifications; fitted; competent. <BR> <I>Ex. a vessel qualified for use at sea, a qualified voter. To be qualified, an airplane pilot must have good eyesight and hold a license to fly.</I> (SYN) adapted. <DD><B> 2. </B>limited, modified, or restricted in some way. <BR> <I>Ex. qualified acceptance. His qualified answer was, "I will go, but only if you will come with me."</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(British Slang.) a euphemism for various oaths. <BR> <I>Ex. He was ... told not to make a qualified fool of himself (Rudyard Kipling).</I> adv. <B>qualifiedly.</B> noun <B>qualifiedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="qualifiedendorsement">
<B>qualified endorsement,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in business) an endorsement with the words "without recourse" added. </DL>
<A NAME="qualifier">
<B>qualifier, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person, animal, or thing that qualifies. <BR> <I>Ex. Other qualifiers with their four-lap average speeds (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a word that limits or modifies the meaning of another word. Adjectives and adverbs are qualifiers. (SYN) modifier. </DL>
<A NAME="qualify">
<B>qualify, </B>verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make fit or competent. <BR> <I>Ex. Can you qualify yourself for the job?</I> (SYN) prepare, equip. <DD><B> 2. </B>to furnish with legal power; make legally capable. <BR> <I>Ex. No one but a landholder was qualified to be elected into that body (George Bancroft).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make less strong; change somewhat; limit; modify. <BR> <I>Ex. Qualify your statement that dogs are loyal by adding "usually."</I> (SYN) moderate, temper, adapt. <DD><B> 4. </B>to characterize by attributing some quality to; give a descriptive name to. <BR> <I>Ex. The "Devil's drawing-room," As some have qualified that wondrous place (Byron).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Grammar.) to limit or modify the meaning of. <BR> <I>Ex. Adverbs qualify verbs.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>to modify the strength or flavor of (a liquid). <BR> <I>Ex. Tea which he drank ... qualified with brandy (Tobias Smollett).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to become fit; show oneself fit. <BR> <I>Ex. Can you qualify for the Boy Scouts?</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to become legally capable. <BR> <I>Ex. to qualify as a voter.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to gain the right to compete in a race, contest, or tournament. adv. <B>qualifyingly.</B> </DL>
