Meanings
nounquarter jack (plural quarter jacks)
plural quarter jacks · alternative quarter-jack
- An automaton, on a clock, that strikes a bell every quarter hour
From the interior face of the west wall of the tower projected a little canopy with a quarter-jack and small bell beneath it, the automaton being driven by the same clock machinery that struck the large bell in the tower.
1905, Thomas Hardy, Works, Harper, Far From the Madding Crowd, page 130
Cite this entry
APA
quarter jack. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter%20jack
MLA
“quarter jack.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter%20jack. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quarter jack,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter%20jack.
Source: quarter jack on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.