beat to quarters

verb

To summon the crew of a sailing man-of-war to their stations for action against an enemy.

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Meanings

verbbeat to quarters (third-person singular simple present beats to quarters, present participle beating to quarters, simple past beat to quarters, past participle beaten to quarters)

present singular third person beats to quarters · participle present beating to quarters · participle past beaten to quarters

  1. intransitivenauticalTo summon the crew of a sailing man-of-war to their stations for action against an enemy.

Origin

See beat (“to signal beating a drum”)

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

beat to quarters. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beat%20to%20quarters

MLA

“beat to quarters.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beat%20to%20quarters. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beat to quarters,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beat%20to%20quarters.

Source: beat to quarters on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.