<B>quantitate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-tated,</B> <B>-tating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to determine the quantity of; measure. <BR> <I>Ex. Attempts ... are made to quantitate the output of those faculty members who have not gained tenure (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantitative">
<B>quantitative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>concerned with quantity or quantities. <BR> <I>Ex. a quantitative change, quantitative superiority. Quantitative research during the first half of the present century on the numerical fluctuations of wild animal populations led to the flowering of the science of animal ecology and formed a solid foundation for a theory of animal populations (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>that can be measured. <DD><B> 3. </B>(of verse) having feet consisting of long and short, rather than stressed and unstressed, syllables. <BR> <I>Ex. Perhaps the best quantitative verses in our language ... are to be found in Mother Goose (James Russell Lowell).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>of or having to do with the quantity or duration of a speech sound. adv. <B>quantitatively.</B> noun <B>quantitativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quantitativeanalysis">
<B>quantitative analysis,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the testing of something to find out what chemical substances are in it, and how much there is of each substance. </DL>
<A NAME="quantity">
<B>quantity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an amount. <BR> <I>Ex. Use equal quantities of nuts and raisins in the cake.</I> (SYN) portion. <DD><B> 2. </B>a large amount; indefinite but usually large number. <BR> <I>Ex. The baker buys flour in quantity. The professor owns quantities of books.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the amount of something present. <BR> <I>Ex. to decrease the quantity of heat in a room.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>something that is measurable. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Music.) the length of a note. <DD><B> 6. </B>the length of a sound or syllable in speech or poetry. <BR> <I>Ex. But in quantity, or length, the "short a" in sand is actually longer than the "long a" in late (American Pronunciation).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Mathematics.) <DD><B> a. </B>something having magnitude, or size, extent, amount, etc. <DD><B> b. </B>a figure or symbol representing this. <DD><B> 8. </B>(Logic.) <DD><B> a. </B>the character of a proposition as universal or particular. <DD><B> b. </B>how far a term or concept in a proposition is supposed to extend, as indicated by words like <I>all, some,</I> or <I>no.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantitysurveyor">
<B>quantity surveyor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a surveyor who estimates or determines the quantities of work and materials needed for a job. <BR> <I>Ex. The plans of the buildings ... will be now submitted to the quantity surveyor (London Daily News).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantitytheory">
<B>quantity theory,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Economics.) the theory that the general level of prices depends directly on the amount of money in circulation and on the velocity of its circulation, varying inversely with the volume of trade. </DL>
<A NAME="quantization">
<B>quantization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the fact or process of quantizing. </DL>
<A NAME="quantize">
<B>quantize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-tized,</B> <B>-tizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to apply quantum mechanics or the quantum theory to; measure (energy) in quanta. <BR> <I>Ex. Much of the behavior of atoms and electrons could be explained only on the assumption that the field in the atom is quantized (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to restrict the magnitude of (an observable quantity) in all or some of its range to a set of distinct values, especially to multiples of a definite unit. <BR> <I>Ex. ... rotatory energy is limited to certain discrete values, or, as the physicist says, is "quantized" (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantizer">
<B>quantizer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that quantizes. </DL>
<A NAME="quantong">
<B>quantong, </B>noun. <B>=quandong.</B></DL>
<A NAME="quantum">
<B>quantum, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ta,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>(Physics.) <DD><B> a. </B>the basic unit of radiant energy; the smallest amount of energy capable of existing independently. Light and heat are given off and absorbed in quanta. <BR> <I>Ex. One radiation quantum can modify the nucleus of a germ cell sufficiently to cause a mutation, an inheritable change of character; but only one in many million quanta will score that kind of bull's eye (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>this amount of energy regarded as a unit. <DD><B> 2. </B>a sum; amount; quantity; share or portion. <BR> <I>Ex. Every member pressing forward to throw on his quantum of wisdom, the subject was quickly buried under a mountain of words (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of sudden, spectular significance or effect, often representing a major advance. <BR> <I>Ex. the dry, electrostatic copying process (a quantum improvement over earlier wet photographic methods (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantumchemistry">
<B>quantum chemistry,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the quantum theory as applied to the study of chemical systems and processes. </DL>
<A NAME="quantumchromodynamics">
<B>quantum chromodynamics =chromodynamics.</B> <I>Ex. All this is pulled together in a theory called quantum chromodynamics (QCD) analogous to the thoroughly proved quantum electrodynamics which describes the interaction of particles through electromagnetic forces (Technology Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantumelectrodynamics">
<B>quantum electrodynamics,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the quantum theory as applied to electrodynamics. <BR> <I>Ex. Quantum electrodynamics ... is concerned with the interaction of the electron, the particle of electricity, with radiation (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantumelectronics">
<B>quantum electronics,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the quantum theory as applied to electronics. </DL>
<A NAME="quantumjump">
<B>quantum jump,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Physics.) the change in the orbit of an electron in an atom accompanying the loss or gain of a quantum of energy. <BR> <I>Ex. The action of the solid-state maser also depends on quantum jumps, but they are jumps of electrons within individual atoms rather than energy transitions of whole molecules (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a sudden, spectacular advance; major breakthrough. </DL>
<A NAME="quantumleap">
<B>quantum leap,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a great or major advance; quantum jump. <BR> <I>Ex. Cable television will have the structure for a quantum leap followed by an effectively wired nation a decade later (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantummechanical">
<B>quantum-mechanical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, quantum mechanics. adv. <B>quantum-mechanically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quantummechanics">
<B>quantum mechanics,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the quantum theory as applied to the physical measurement of atomic structures and related phenomena. <BR> <I>Ex. Quantum mechanics ... enables scientists to deal with small particles, such as the electron, that do not follow the laws of classical physics (Harvey E. White).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantummeruit">
<B>quantum meruit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) as much as one has merited or deserved. </DL>
<A NAME="quantummutatusabillo">
<B>quantum mutatus ab illo,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) how greatly changed from what he was! </DL>
<A NAME="quantumnumber">
<B>quantum number,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of a set of numbers assigned to an atomic system, specifying the number of quanta or units of energy in the system. </DL>
<A NAME="quantumphysics">
<B>quantum physics,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> physics according to the quantum theory; modern or contemporary physics. <BR> <I>Ex. Quantum physics normally deals with natural phenomena on a submicroscopic scale (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantumsufficit">
<B>quantum sufficit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) as much as is sufficient. </DL>
<A NAME="quantumtheory">
<B>quantum theory,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the theory that whenever radiant energy is transferred, the transfer occurs in pulsations rather than continuously, and that the amount transferred during each pulsation is a definite amount or quantum. It was introduced by Max Planck, a German physicist. <BR> <I>Ex. What the quantum theory explains is the distinctiveness and the individuality of the 90-odd elements of which the world is made. (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quantumvalebat">
<B>quantum valebat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) as much as it was worth. </DL>
<A NAME="quap">
<B>quap, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a hypothetical nuclear particle consisting of an antiproton and a quark. </DL>
<A NAME="quapaw">
<B>Quapaw, </B>noun, pl. <B>-paw</B> or <B>-paws.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a member of a Siouan Indian tribe of the Arkansas River Valley, formerly thought to be mentioned in an account of de Soto's expedition from 1539 to 1543. </DL>
<A NAME="quaquaversal">
<B>quaquaversal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> turned, pointing, or dipping in all directions. <DD><I>noun </I> (Geology.) a domed structure with the strata dipping away in all directions from a center. </DL>
<A NAME="quaquaversally">
<B>quaquaversally, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in all directions from a central point or area. </DL>
