Emily Dickinson Lexicon

quarter, n. [OFr < L. quartār-ius, a fourth part of a measure.] (webplay: command, full).

Fourth phase; fourth part of the lunar period; point in the lunar cycle when only part of the moon is visible on earth.

quarter (-ing), v. [see quarter, n.] (webplay: full, hands, head, toe, wind).

Divide into four parts; [fig.] fracture; splinter; rend; split into pieces; break apart by striking.

quartz, adj. [see quartz, n.]

Stony; [fig.] cool; smooth; hard; solid; firm; sturdy; unmoveable; unfaltering; unshakable; unwavering.

quartz, n. [Ger. quarz.]

Crystal; [fig.] ice; frozen water.

queen (-s, -'s), n. [OE cwén, woman < OGerm. *kwæni-z.] (webplay: bees, England, gold, meadows, suitable, sweet, woman).

1. Female monarch.
2. Victoria of England (1819-1901); nineteenth-century ruler of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
3. Conqueror; victorious survivor; one who has overcome intense suffering; [fig.] expert; authority.
4. Empress; female sovereign; royal lady; woman of highest rank.
5. Chief female apis in a hive; sovereign of a swarm of bees.
6. Bride; [fig.] woman who has been washed, anointed, invested, adorned, and crowned in preparation to be the legal consort of a king.
7. Princess; pampered female child; little girl who is constantly attended.
8. Royalty; [fig.] imaginative little girls; children pretending to be women in a game of make-believe; [metaphor] poet; seer; visionary.
9. Woman; lady; wife.

quench, n. [see quench, v.] (webplay: out).

Smothering; act of extinguishing; process of snuffing out; [fig.] end; death; act of killing; termination of life.

quench (-ed, -ing), v. [ME cwenken < OE cwincan, go out, be extinguished.]

1. Expire; ebb; fade; die down; vanish slowly; gradually lose intensity; [fig.] exit; depart; die; set; disappear beyond the horizon.
2. Extinguish; snuff out; put out; [fig.] drown; kill.

quest, n. [OFr < L quærěre, seek, inquire.] (webplay: desire, seek).

Search; pursuit; chase; hunt; act of seeking.

question (-s), n. [OFr < L. quærěre, ask, inquire.] (webplay: answer, dead, judicial).

1. Quest; purpose; mission; [fig.] missile; epistle; message; poem; verse; [fig.] request; petition; prayer; [metaphor] dove; bird sent by Noah from the ark to discover the existence of dry land (see Genesis 8:8-12).
2. Inquiry; query; search for knowledge; act of asking.
3. Curiosity; inquisitiveness; desire to know an answer.
4. Debate; problem.
5. Doubt; uncertainty; misgiving; reservation.
6. Subject; issue; topic; point of discussion.

question (-ed, -s), v. [OFr questionner, see question, n.] (webplay: dead, desire, doubt, man, princes, resurrection, truth, witness).

1. Doubt; challenge.
2. Interrogate.
3. Ask; query; inquire; wonder; ponder; desire to know; seek knowledge.
4. Phrase. “Question to”: wonder about; puzzle over.