Emily Dickinson Lexicon

QUAR'RY, n. [Fr. carrière, formerly Norm. quarrier. I know not whether the original sense of this word was a pit or mine, from digging, or whether the sense was a place for squaring stone. The Fr. carriere signifies not only a quarry, but a career, course, race, from the L. curro, which can not be from squaring. If the sense was a pit, it may be referred to the Heb. Ch. and Eth. כרה, to dig; Ar. كَرَا kara or kwara, to dig, to run violently, to leap. If the sense is from squaring, see Square. See Class Gr, No. 35, 36, 52, 57, 63.]

1. A place, cavern or pit where stones are dug from the earth, or separated from a large mass of rocks. We generally apply the word mine to the pit from which are taken metals and coals; from quarries are taken stones for building, as marble, freestone, slate, &c.
2. In Paris, the quarries are a vast cavern under the city, several miles in extent.

QUAR'RY, n. [Fr. carré, for quarré; Arm. id. See Quarantine.]

1. A square; as, a quarry of glass. [Not in use.] – Mortimer.
2. An arrow with a square head. [See Quarrel. Not in use.] – Fairfax.
3. In falconry, the game which a hawk is pursuing or has killed. [Perhaps from L. quæro, Fr. querir, to seek.]
4. Among hunters, a part of the entrails of the beast taken, given to the hounds. – Encyc.

QUAR'RY, v.i.

To prey upon, as a vultur or harpy. – L'Estrange. [A low word and not much used.]

QUAR'RY, v.t.

To dig or take from a quarry; as, to quarry marble.

QUAR'RY-ING, ppr.

Digging stones from a quarry.

QUARRY-MAN, n.

A man who is occupied in quarrying stones.

QUART, n. [quort; It. quarta; Fr. quarte, from quart, a fourth, L. quartus; D. kwart; G. quart; from W. cwar, the root of square, or from the root of Gr. αρω, to fit or suit, to square. We see in the Amharic, the ancient dialect of the Ethiopic, art is four, and arten is fourth, L. quartus. Ludolf, Amh. 57. This with the Celtic pronunciation, as guerre for war, becomes quart.]

1. The fourth part; a quarter. [Not in use.] – Spenser.
2. The fourth part of a gallon; two pints.
3. A vessel containing the fourth of a gallon.
4. A sequence of four cards in the game of picket.

QUART'AN, a. [quort'an; L. quartanus, the fourth.]

Designating the fourth; occurring every fourth day; as, a quartan, ague or fever.

QUART'AN, n.

1. An intermitting ague that occurs every fourth day, or with intermissions of seventy-two hours.
2. A measure containing the fourth part of some other measure.

QUART-A'TION, n.

In chimistry and metallurgy, the operation by which the quantity of one thing is made equal to the fourth part of another thing. – Encyc.

QUART'ER, n.¹ [quort'er; Fr. quart, quartier; It. quartiere; Sp. quartel; D. kwartier; G. quartier; Sw. qvart, qvartal; Dan. qvart, qvartal, qvarteer; L. quartus, the fourth part; from W. cwar, a square.]

1. The fourth part; as, the quarter of an hour or of a mile; one quarter of the expense. Living is a quarter dearer in the city than in the country.
2. In weight, the fourth part of a hundred pounds avoirdupois, or of 112 lbs., that is, 28 lbs.; as, a quarter of sugar.
3. In dry measure, the fourth of a tun in weight, or eight bushels; as, a quarter of wheat.
4. In astronomy, the fourth part of the moon's period or monthly revolution; as, the first quarter after the change or full.
5. A region in the hemisphere or great circle; primarily, one of the four cardinal points; as, the four quarters of the globe; but used indifferently for any region or point of compass. From what quarter does the wind blow? Hence,
6. A particular region of a town, city or country; as, all quarters of the city; in every quarter of the country or of the continent. Hence,
7. Usually in the plural, quarters, the place of lodging or temporary residence; appropriately, the place where officers and soldiers lodge, but applied to the lodgings of any temporary resident. He called on the general at his quarters; the place furnished good winter quarters for the troops. I saw the stranger at his quarters.
8. Proper station. Swift to their several quarters hasten then. – Milton. Bacon uses the word in the singular. “Make love keep quarter.”
9. On board of ships, quarters signifies the stations or places where the officers and men are posted in action. Pipe all hands to quarters.
10. In military affairs, the remission or sparing of the life of a captive or an enemy when in one's power; mercy granted by a conqueror to his enemy, when no longer able to defend himself. In desperate encounters, men will sometimes neither ask nor give quarter. The barbarous practice of giving no quarter to soldiers in a fortress taken by assault, is nearly obsolete. He magnified his own clemency, now they were at his mercy, to offer them quarter for their lives, if they would give up the castle. – Clarendon. Lambs at the mercy of wolves must expect no quarter. – L'Estrange.
11. Treatment shown to an enemy; indulgence. To the young, if you give tolerable quarter, you indulge them in idleness and ruin them. [Rarely used.] – Collier.
12. Friendship; amity; concord. [Not in use.] – Shak.
13. In the slaughter house, one limb of a quadruped with the adjoining parts; or one-fourth part of the carcass of a quadruped, including a limb; as, a fore quarter, or hind quarter.
14. In the menage, the quarters of a horse's foot are the sides of the coffin, between the toe and the heel. False quarters, are a cleft in the horn of the hoof, extending from the coronet to the shoe, or from top to bottom. When for any disorder, one of the quarters is cut, the horse is said to be quarter-cast. – Encyc.
15. In a siege, quarters are the encampment on one of the principal passages round the place besieged, to prevent relief and intercept convoys. – Encyc.
16. In seminaries of learning, a fourth part of the year, or three months. Tuition and board at twenty-five dollars the quarter. This is a moderate quarter bill.
17. The quarter of a ship, is the part of a ship's side which lies toward the stern, or the part between the aftmost end of the main-chains and the sides of the stern, where it is terminated by the quarter-pieces. – Mar. Dict.
18. In heraldry, [one of the divisions of a shield, when it is divided cross-wise.—E. H. B.] On the quarter, in seamen's language, is a point in the horizon considerably abaft the beam, but not in the direction of the stern. Quarter-bill, among seamen, is a list containing the different stations where the officers and crew are to take post in time of action, and the names of the men assigned to each. Quarter-cloths, long pieces of painted canvas, extended on the outside of the quarter-netting from the upper part of the gallery to the gangway. Quarter-deck, that part of the deck of a ship which extends from the stern to the mainmast. But in some kinds of vessels, the quarter-deck does not extend to the mainmast, but is raised above the main deck. Quarter-gallery, a sort of balcony on the quarters of a ship. Quarter-railing, narrow molded planks, reaching from the top of the stern to the gangway, serving as a fence to the quarter-deck. Quarter-master, in an army, an officer whose business is to attend to the quarters for the soldiers, their provisions, fuel, forage, &c.; in the navy, an officer who assists the mates in their duties, in stowing the hold, coiling the cables, attending the steerage, and keeping time by the watch glasses. Quarter-master-general, in military affairs, is an officer whose duty is to mark the marches and encampments of an army the head-quarters, the place for the artillery, and procure supplies of provisions and forage, &c. Quarter-staff, a long staff borne by foresters and park-keepers, as a badge of office and a weapon. – Encyc. #2. A staff of defense. – Dryden. Quarter-sessions, in England, a general court held quarterly by the justices of peace of each county, with jurisdiction to try and determine felonies and trespasses; but capital offenses are seldom or never tried in this court. – Blackstone. Quarter-round, in architecture, the echinus or ovolo. Head-quarters, the tent or mansion of the commander in chief of an army.

QUAR'TER, n.²

The part of a shoe forming the side from the heel to the vamp.

QUART'ER, v.i.

To lodge; to have a temporary residence. The general quarters at a hotel in Church-street.

QUART'ER, v.t.

1. To divide into four equal parts.
2. To divide; to separate into parts. – Shak.
3. To divide into distinct regions or compartments. The sailors quarter'd heaven. – Dryden.
4. To station soldiers for lodging; as, to quarter troops in the city or among the inhabitants, or on the inhabitants.
5. To lodge; to fix on a temporary dwelling. They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter'd. – Shak.
6. To diet. [Not in use.] – Hudibras.
7. To bear as an appendage to the hereditary arms. The coat of Beauchamp … quartered by the Earl of Hertford. – Peacham. [To quarter arms, is to place the arms of other families in the compartments of a shield, which is divided into four quarters, the family arms being placed in the first quarter. But when more than three other arms are to be quartered with the family arms, it is usual to divide the shield into a suitable number of compartments; and still the arms are said to be quartered. A person has a right to quarter the arms of any family from an heiress, of which he is descended.— E. H. B.]

QUART'ER-AGE, n.

A quarterly allowance. – Hudibras.

QUART'ER-DAY, n.

The day that completes three months, the quarter of a year; the day when quarterly payments are made of rent or interest. – Spectator.

QUART'ER-ED, pp.

Divided into four equal parts or quarters; separated into distinct parts; lodged; stationed for lodging.

QUART'ER-ING, n.

1. A station. – Mountagu.
2. Assignment of quarters for soldiers.
3. The division of a shield containing many coats. – Ashmole.

QUART'ER-ING, ppr.

Dividing into quarters or into distinct parts; stationing for lodgings.

QUART'ER-LY, a.

1. Containing or consisting of a fourth part; as, quarterly seasons.
2. Recurring at the end of each quarter of the year; as, quarterly payments of rent; a quarterly visitation or examination. The secretary requires quarterly returns from his officers.

QUART'ER-LY, adv.

Once in a quarter of a year. The returns are made quarterly.

QUART'ER-MAS-TER, n.

An officer whose duty is to provide quarters, provisions, forage and ammunition for an army, and superintend the supplies.

QUART'ER-MAS-TER-GEN'ER-AL, n.

The chief officer in the quarter-master's department.

QUART'ERN, n.

The fourth part of a pint; a gill.

QUART-ET', n.

1. In music, a composition in four parts, each performed by a single voice or instrument.
2. In poetry, a stanza of four lines.