<B>quarter eagle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a former gold coin worth $2.50. </DL>
<A NAME="quartered">
<B>quartered, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>divided into quarters. <BR> <I>Ex. yon cloudless, quartered moon (Oliver Wendell Holmes).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>furnished with rooms or lodging. <DD><B> 3. </B>quartersawed. <DD><B> 4. </B>having quarters as specified. <BR> <I>Ex. a short-quartered horse, low-quartered shoes.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Heraldry.) <DD><B> a. </B>(of a coat of arms) divided or arranged in quarters. <DD><B> b. </B>(of a cross) having a square piece missing in the center. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterfinal">
<B>quarterfinal, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the round just before the semifinals in a tournament. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with this round. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterfinalist">
<B>quarterfinalist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a contestant or team in a quarterfinal. </DL>
<A NAME="quartergrain">
<B>quarter grain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the grain of wood shown when a log is quartered. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterhorse">
<B>quarter horse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a strong horse originally bred for racing on quarter-mile tracks, now used by cowboysfor sorting out cattle, in playing polo, and for riding. <BR> <I>Ex. The average racing quarter horse can dash over 20 seconds, often faster at this distance than some thoroughbreds (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quarterhour">
<B>quarter-hour, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>fifteen minutes. <DD><B> 2. </B>a point one fourth or three fourths of the way in an hour. </DL>
<B>quartering, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>(of a wind or sea) blowing on a ship's side near the stern. <BR> <I>Ex. Rolling and surging along, as we were now, through quartering seas, with an occasional shower of spray coming aboard as a whitecap slapped the guardrail (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>that quarters. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act of dividing into fourths. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of assigning quarters, as for soldiers. <BR> <I>Ex. For an average of about $100 a month, a sum equal to the quartering allowance he gets from Uncle Sam, an Abilene airman will be able to rent a fully-furnished three-bedroom home complete with picture windows and carport (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Heraldry.) <DD><B> a. </B>the division of a shield into quarters or parts. <DD><B> b. </B>one of such parts. <DD><B> c. </B>the coat of arms on it. <BR><I>expr. <B>quarterings,</B> </I>the various coats of arms arranged on a shield. <BR> <I>Ex. a fat duchess, with fourteen quarterings (Charles Lever).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quarterlight">
<B>quarter light,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a window in the side of a carriage, as distinguished from the windows in the doors. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Especially British.) a small window in the side of an automobile which usually turns on a swivel, as distinguished from the ordinary windows. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterly">
<B>quarterly, </B>adjective, adverb, noun, pl. <B>-lies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>happening or done four times a year. <BR> <I>Ex. to make quarterly payments on one's insurance.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having to do with or covering a quarter of a year. <DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>once each quarter of a year. <BR> <I>Ex. to pay one's insurance premiums quarterly. Father pays his income tax quarterly.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Heraldry.) <DD><B> a. </B>in the quarters of a shield. <DD><B> b. </B>with division into quarters. <DD><B> 3. </B>in or by quarters. <DD><I>noun </I> a magazine published every three months. (Abbr:) quart. </DL>
<A NAME="quartermaster">
<B>quartermaster, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an officer in the army who has charge of providing quarters, clothing, rations, ammunition, fuel, and transportation, for troops. <DD><B> 2. </B>a petty officer in the navy or merchant marine who has charge of the steering, the compasses, and the signals on a ship. <BR> <I>Ex. Deep water merchant mariners sailing into the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway will find the fresh-water lingo quite different from ocean-going language ... Speed is reckoned in miles per hour not in knots, while the sailor steering the boat is a "wheelsman," not a "quartermaster" (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD> (Abbr:) Q.M. or QM (no periods) </DL>
<A NAME="quartermastercorps">
<B>Quartermaster Corps,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a former department of the United States Army that provided for the quarters, equipment, and other supplies, of troops. It was replaced by the Army Materiel Command in 1962. </DL>
<A NAME="quartermastergeneral">
<B>quartermaster-general, </B>noun, pl. <B>-als.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(U.S. Military.) the staff officer in charge of the Quartermaster Corps. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British Military.) a staff officer whose department is charged with all orders relating to the marching, embarking, billeting, and quartering, of troops. (Abbr:) Q.M.G. or Q.M.Gen. </DL>
<A NAME="quartermiler">
<B>quarter-miler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> runner or racer who runs a quarter of a mile. </DL>
<A NAME="quartern">
<B>quartern, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(British.) <DD><B> a. </B>a quarter; fourth part. <DD><B> b. </B>one fourth of a pint; gill. <DD><B> c. </B>one fourth of a peck or of a stone. <DD><B> d. </B>a quarter of a pound. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=quartern loaf.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quarternloaf">
<B>quartern loaf,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large, round loaf of bread weighing about four pounds. </DL>
<A NAME="quarternote">
<B>quarter note,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a musical note played for one fourth as long a time as a whole note; crotchet. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterphase">
<B>quarter-phase, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> combining, producing, or carrying two alternating electric currents which differ in phase by one quarter of a cycle (90 degrees); diphase. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterpoint">
<B>quarter point,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one fourth of the angular distance between two adjacent points of the compass; 2 degrees 48 minutes 45 seconds. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterracing">
<B>quarter racing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a quarter-mile horse race along a straight path. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterrest">
<B>quarter rest,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) a rest as long as a quarter note. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterround">
<B>quarter round,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a molding whose contour is exactly or approximately a quadrant; ovolo. </DL>
<A NAME="quarters">
<B>quarters, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>quarter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quartersaw">
<B>quartersaw, </B>transitive verb, <B>-sawed,</B> <B>-sawed</B> or <B>-sawn,</B> <B>-sawing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to saw (a log) lengthwise into quarters and then into boards. Logs are quartersawed so that the top and bottom surfaces of each board show a cross section of the annual rings of the wood. </DL>
<A NAME="quartersection">
<B>quarter section,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. and Canada.) a piece of land, usually square, containing 160 acres. </DL>
<A NAME="quartersessions">
<B>quarter sessions,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an English court, held quarterly, that has limited criminal jurisdiction and certain other powers. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of various other courts held quarterly, as in some states of the United States and in Scotland. </DL>
<A NAME="quarterstaff">
<B>quarterstaff, </B>noun, pl. <B>-staves.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an old English weapon consisting of a stout pole 6 to 8 feet long, tipped with iron. <DD><B> 2. </B>exercise or fighting with this weapon. <BR> <I>Ex. He was famous throughout the province for strength of arm and skill at quarterstaff (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quarterstaves">
<B>quarterstaves, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>quarterstaff.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quarterstep">
<B>quarter step,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a quarter tone in music. </DL>
<A NAME="quartertone">
<B>quarter tone,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> half of a half-tone in music. </DL>
<A NAME="quartet">
<B>quartet</B> or <B>quartette, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a group of four singers or players performing together. <DD><B> 2. </B>a piece of music for four voices or instruments. <DD><B> 3. </B>any group of four; set of four. </DL>
<A NAME="quartic">
<B>quartic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Mathematics.) <DD><I>adj. </I> of the fourth degree. <DD><I>noun </I> an expression or surface of the fourth degree. </DL>
<A NAME="quartier">
<B>quartier, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a section of a town or city; quarter. </DL>
<A NAME="quartile">
<B>quartile, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>one of the points or marks dividing a frequency distribution into four parts, each having the same frequency. The upper quartile is the point reached or exceeded by 25 per cent of the cases plotted on the frequency scale. <DD><B> b. </B>any one of the four parts thus formed. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Astrology.) the aspect of two heavenly bodies when their longitudes differ by 90 degrees. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with quartiles; being a quartile. </DL>
<A NAME="quartmajor">
<B>quart major,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in cards) a sequence of ace, king, queen, and jack of a suit. </DL>
<A NAME="quarto">
<B>quarto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the page size (usually about 9 by 12 inches) of a book in which each leaf is one fourth of a whole sheet of paper. (Abbr:) Q. <DD><B> 2. </B>a book having such pages. <DD><I>adj. </I> of this size; having pages of this size. </DL>
<A NAME="quartz">
<B>quartz, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a very hard mineral composed of silica, found in many different types of rocks, such as sandstone and quartzite, and as an important constituent in granite, gneiss, and other rocks. Crystals of pure quartz are colorless and transparent. Colored varieties of quartz include flint, agate, and amethyst. Quartzes vary according to the size and purity of their crystals. Those with submicroscopic crystals are divided into fibrous varieties, or chalcedonies, and granular varieties. adj. <B>quartzlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="quartzclock">
<B>quartz clock,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an electric clock in which the frequency of current supplied to the clock motor is controlled by the vibrations of a quartz crystal. <BR> <I>Ex. The highly accurate standard quartz clocks at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and ... at the United States Naval Observatory, keep time to better than one part in ten thousand million (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="quartzdiorite">
<B>quartz-diorite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of diorite having quartz as one of its main components. </DL>
