quarter

plural quarters

1. A fourth part of something.
   1. broadlycountableuncountableEach of four equal parts into which something can be divided; a fourth part.First known use 14th c.

      I ate a quarter of the pizza.

      2 more examples

      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.

      2018 September 30, Julia Carpenter and Jackie Wattles, “California has a new law: No more all-male boards”, in CNN Business

      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.

      2023 April 5, Philip Haigh, “Comment: Pay deal a positive result”, in RAIL, number 980, page 3

      Synonyms: fourth, fourth part, one-fourth, one-quarter, ¼

   2. countablehistoricaluncountableA measure of capacity used chiefly for grain or coal, varying greatly in quantity by time and location.First known use 13th c.

      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.

      1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 204

   3. countableuncountableA fourth part of a pound; approximately 113 grams.First known use 14th c.
   4. countablehistoricaluncountableA measure of length; originally a fourth part of an ell, now chiefly a fourth part of a yard.First known use 14th c.
   5. countablehistoricaluncountableA fourth part of the night; one of the watches or divisions of the night.First known use 14th c.

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

      1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark vj:[48]

   6. countableuncountablebusinessA fourth part of the year; 3 months; a term or season.First known use 14th c.

      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.

      2021 September 27, Priya Krishnakumar, “Murders rose sharply in 2020 but data is lacking across much of the country”, in CNN

      1 more example

      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.

      2024 May 23, Laura He, “Bargain-hungry Americans are flocking to Temu and making its Chinese owner very rich”, in CNN Business

   7. countableuncountabletimeA fourth part of an hour; a period of fifteen minutes, especially with reference to the quarter before or after the hour.First known use 15th c.

      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.

      1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 163

   8. countablehistoricaluncountableA fourth part of a hundredweight.First known use fromat 15th c.
   9. countableuncountablegovernmentA 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.First known use 15th c.
   10. CanadaUScountableuncountableA quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada.First known use 18th c.

       Synonyms: two bits

   11. countableuncountablehobbiesOne of four equal periods into which a game is divided.First known use 19th c.
   12. countablehistoricaluncountableChesterA quarter of an acre or 40 roods.
2. Place or position.
   1. countableuncountableA region or place.First known use 13th c.

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

      1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

   2. countableuncountableEach of four parts into which the earth or sky is divided, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass.First known use 14th c.
   3. countableuncountableA division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc.First known use 16th c.

      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.

      1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

      Synonyms: district, ward, neighborhood, ghetto, borough, capitoulate

   4. countableuncountableOne's residence or dwelling-place; (in plural) rooms, lodgings, especially as allocated to soldiers or domestic staff.First known use 16th c.
   5. archaiccountablefigurativelyuncountableA topic or area of endeavour.

      1 more example

      “I'll tell you something, too,” retorted the captain, duskily flushing. “I wouldn't sail this ship for the man you are, if you went upon your knees. I've dealt with gentlemen up to now.” “I can tell you the names of a number of gentlemen you'll never deal with any more, and that's the whole of Longhurst's gang,” said Jim. “I'll put your pipe out in that quarter, my friend. Here, rout out your traps as quick as look at it, and take your vermin along with you. I'll have a captain in, this very night, that's a sailor, and some sailors to work for him.”

      1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 10, in The Wrecker

   6. countableuncountablenauticalThe aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern.First known use 16th c.

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

      1863, Charles Reade, Hard Cash

      1 more example

      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.’

      1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 80

   7. countableuncountablefarrieryThe part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin.First known use 16th c.

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

      [1877], Anna Sewell, “A Strike for Liberty”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 106

3. countableuncountableThe back and sides of the upper of a shoe, extending around the wearer's heel to meet the vamp.
4. countableoftenpluraluncountableA section (of a population), especially one having a particular set of values or interests.

   We got help form every quarter.

   5 more examples

   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

   She took heavy fire from all 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.

   1897, National and English Review, page 499

   V. Gene Robinson's installation as an Episcopal bishop was greeted largely by silence from gay quarters.

   2003, The Advocate, page 44

5. countableobsoleteuncountableRelations between people.First known use 17th c.

   In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom.

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

   1 more example

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

   1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Cunning”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

6. countableuncountableAccommodation given to a defeated opponent; mercy; exemption from being killed.First known use 17th c.

   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.

   1955, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, page 1110

7. abbreviationarchaiccountableuncountableAmerican footballA quarterback.First known use 19th c.
8. abbreviationarchaiccountableslanguncountablegovernmentA quartermaster; a quartermaster sergeant.First known use 20th c.

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

   1925, Ford Madox Ford, “Parade's End”, in No More Parades, Penguin, published 2012, page 360

9. abbreviationcountableuncountableA quarterfinal.First known use 20th c.

1. not comparablePertaining to an aspect of a quarter.
2. not comparableConsisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹⁄₄, 25%).

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

3. not comparableRelated to a three-month term, a quarter of a year.

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

   1 more example

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

present singular third person quarters · participle present quartering · participle past quartered · past quartered

1. transitiveTo divide into quarters; to divide by four.
2. transitiveTo provide housing for (usually military personnel or equipment).

   Quarter the horses in the third stable.

   1 more example

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

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

3. intransitiveTo lodge; to have a temporary residence.

   Synonyms: stay over

4. transitiveTo quartersaw.

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

   1758, Thomas Hale, A Compleat Body Of Husbandry, page 333

5. historicaltransitiveTo execute (someone) by tying each limb to a different animal (such as a horse) and driving them in different directions.
6. governmentTo display different coats of arms in the quarters of a shield.

   1 more example

   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.

   1950 June, Michael Robbins, “Heraldry of London Underground Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 382

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

present singular third person quarters · participle present quartering · participle past quartered · past quartered

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

   1821 September–October, [Thomas De Quincey], “(please specify the page)”, in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 2nd edition, London: […] [J. Moyes] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1823, →OCLC

1. A village in South Lanarkshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS7251).