quat

plural quats

1. obsoleteA pustule.
2. obsoleteAn annoying, worthless person.

   I have rubb'd this young quat almost to the sense, And he grows angry.

   1565, William Shakespeare, Othello

present singular third person quats · participle present quatting · participle past quatted · past quatted

1. obsoletetransitiveTo satiate.

   1757, Samuel Foote, The Author, Act II, Scene ii, 1765, The Dramatic Works, Volume 1, page 28, Mrs. Cad. Well, come, begin and ſtart me, that I may come the ſooner to quatting——Huſh ! here′s Siſter ; what the deuce brought her !

2. ScotlanddialectaltransitiveTo relinquish, forsake, give up.

   Ye hae grown proud since ye quatted the begging. — Scottish proverb, said satirically.

   2 more examples

   'Mang mis'ry's posts, whar I did sit, My tongue took sic a faltrin' fit, I thought the wee remains o' wit I had, was quat me

   1813, Hugh Porter, Poetical attempts, page 35

   They seem to our ears indeed to have "quat their roaring play."

   1868, John Wilson, Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2

3. dialectalintransitiveWales and Southwest EnglandTo squat or crouch down.

   She quatted down next to him and rubbed his shoulder.

   2013, R. M. Lienau, The Truchas Light: A Novel, →ISBN, page 155

   3 more examples

   Tho' B-lt-n, quatted in the hall, Her jolly r-mpfs display'd, The size of it amaz'd them all, and Hector quite dismay'd.

   1700, Ta Paidia Tēs Kythereias; Or, King's Place In An Uproar, page 10

   This cows' courant so excited the tinners' curiosity that they went up the hill till they saw the two men wrestling, with the women looking on; then they quatted (stooped) down in a brake of furze to watch the play without being seen.

   1870, William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall

   Tarka quatted on the ledge ; he knew that Deadlock would follow hiin wherever he swam in water.

   1927, Henry William Williamson, Tarka the Otter, Chapter 19

1. Scotlanddialectalnot comparableFree; no longer involved with; quit.

   There it is, sir—Im blythe to be quat of it; pitch it from ye furder than I can see.

   1861, Mrs. Oliphant, The House on the Moor

   2 more examples

   My word, I gie him nae encouragement ! I canna bide the sicht o' him, and wad gie the best gown I hae to be quat o' him."

   1838, Chambers's Journal, page 134

   HECH me, but I'm weary, I'm heart-sick and sad ; O' my kinsfolk I've got quite a wamefu', I wush I was quat o' the d — nable squad — Forgi'e me for sweerin' sae shamefu'.

   1895, William Stewart, Lilts and Larks Frae Larkie, page 177

plural quats

1. chemistryA quaternary ammonium cation or compound.

   “Because quats are positively charged, and skin proteins have a slightly negative charge, quats like to attach themselves to skin,” said Greg Nole, a manager at Unilever, the parent company of Vaseline and Dove.

   2009 October 1, Hilary Howard, “New Ways to Moisturize for Less”, in The New York Times

1. not comparableQuaternary.

plural quats

1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative spelling of khat.

plural QUATs

1. alternativeAlternative form of quat (“quaternary ammonium”).