quarter

noun

1. 1

   A fourth part of something. Each of four equal parts into which something can be divided; a fourth part.

   I ate a quarter of the pizza.

   A majority of companies in the S&P 500 have at least one woman on their boards, but only about a quarter have more than two, according to a study from PwC.

   For companies such as Trans Pennine Express, it will be even harder. It has the unwelcome claim to being Britain's worst train operator, with recent statistics from the Office of Rail and Road showing it cancelled nearly a quarter of its services in February, with lack of available train crew a real problem.

2. 2

   historicalA fourth part of something. A measure of capacity used chiefly for grain or coal, varying greatly in quantity by time and location.

   One of these is 1 Hen. V, cap. 10, defining the quarter of corn to be eight struck bushels, and putting fines on purveyors who take more.

3. 3

   A fourth part of something. A fourth part of a pound; approximately 113 grams.

4. 4

   historicalA fourth part of something. A measure of length; originally a fourth part of an ell, now chiefly a fourth part of a yard.

5. 5

   historicalA fourth part of something. A fourth part of the night; one of the watches or divisions of the night.

   And aboute the fourth quartre of the nyght, he cam unto them, walkinge apon the see [...].

6. 6

   A fourth part of something. A fourth part of the year; 3 months; a term or season.

   The FBI began publishing national quarterly crime reports last year, but has not done so for the first two quarters of 2021, stating that they require at least 60% of agencies to submit NIBRS data in order to publish quarterly data.

   The Shanghai-based company reported Wednesday that net profit soared 246% to 28 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, more than double the average analyst estimate of 12.62 billion yuan ($1.7 billion), according to LSEG data.

7. 7

   A fourth part of something. A fourth part of an hour; a period of fifteen minutes, especially with reference to the quarter before or after the hour.

   An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces.

8. 8

   historicalA fourth part of something. A fourth part of a hundredweight.

9. 9

   A fourth part of something. A fourth part of a coat of arms, or the charge on it, larger than a canton and normally on the upper dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side.

10. 10

    A fourth part of something. A quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada.

11. 11

    A fourth part of something. One of four equal periods into which a game is divided.

12. 12

    historicalA fourth part of something. A quarter of an acre or 40 roods.

13. 13

    Place or position.

    She could not suggest in what quarter of London the shop in question was likely to be as the deceased was accustomed to go about a good deal.

14. 14

    Place or position. A region or place.

    I am to haste, / And all who under me thir Banners wave, / Homeward with flying march where we possess / The Quarters of the North […].

15. 15

    Place or position. Each of four parts into which the earth or sky is divided, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass.

16. 16

    Place or position. A division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc.

17. 17

    Place or position. One's residence or dwelling-place; (in plural) rooms, lodgings, especially as allocated to soldiers or domestic staff.

18. 18

    archaicPlace or position. A topic or area of endeavour.

19. 19

    Place or position. The aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern.

    I was one morning walking the deck, when Rogers, whose watch it was, sitting upon the quarter, called to me in his usual style, ‘Come here, Bill.’

    “My men, the schooner coming up on our weather quarter is a Portuguese pirate.”

20. 20

    Place or position. The part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin.

    [A]t last she kicked right over the carriage pole and fell down, after giving me a severe blow on my near quarter.

21. 21

    The back and sides of the upper of a shoe, extending around the wearer's heel to meet the vamp.

22. 22

    A section (of a population), especially one having a particular set of values or interests.

    We got help form every quarter.

    opposition to the policy came from an unexpected quarter, as well as from certain quarters which had historically opposed it

    all quarters of the socialist movement; praise from Conservative quarters

    It is something to have that sacerdotal position so frankly recognized; but, I repeat, the ground of objection is an extraordinary one, coming as it does from a Liberal quarter in politics.

23. 23

    obsoleteRelations between people.

    In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom.

    I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place, […] and yet kept good quarter between themselves.

24. 24

    Accommodation given to a defeated opponent; mercy; exemption from being killed.

    Hard fighting and long labour they had still; for the Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair, and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked for no quarter.

25. 25

    archaicA quarterback.

26. 26

    archaicA quartermaster; a quartermaster sergeant.

    Tietjens said: ‘Send the Canadian sergeant-major to me at the double….’ to the quarter.

27. 27

    A quarterfinal.

adjective

1. 1

   Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter.

2. 2

   Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹⁄₄, 25%).

   a quarter hour; a quarter century; a quarter note; a quarter pound

3. 3

   Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year.

   A quarter day is one terminating a quarter of the year.

   A quarter session is one held quarterly at the end of a quarter.

verb

1. 1

   To divide into quarters; to divide by four.

2. 2

   To provide housing for (usually military personnel or equipment).

   Quarter the horses in the third stable.

   I thought that I might as well quarter myself on you for a couple of days.

3. 3

   To lodge; to have a temporary residence.

4. 4

   To quartersaw.

   But there is, as in other woods, a great deal of difference between this and the quartered timber.

5. 5

   historicalTo execute (someone) by tying each limb to a different animal (such as a horse) and driving them in different directions.

6. 6

   To display different coats of arms in the quarters of a shield.

   It [the Central London Railway] assumed a modest and entirely heraldic device, quartering the arms of the City of London, the parishes of St. George's, Holborn (St. George and the dragon) and St. Marylebone (the Virgin and Child between two lilies […]), and the county of Middlesex, surmounted by the dragon's wing from the City's crest.

7. 7

   To range to and fro over an area; to move from point to point.

verb

1. 1

   obsoleteTo drive a carriage so as to prevent the wheels from going into the ruts, or so that a rut shall be between the wheels.

   Every creature that met us would rely upon us for quartering

Forms

plural

quarters

past tense

quartered

past participle

quartered

present participle

quartering

third person singular

quarters