QUARTER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does quarter mean? 

• QUARTER (noun)
  The noun QUARTER has 14 senses:

1. one of four equal parts

2. a district of a city having some distinguishing character

3. (football, professional basketball) one of four divisions into which some games are divided

4. a unit of time equal to 15 minutes or a quarter of an hour

5. one of four periods into which the school year is divided

6. a fourth part of a year; three months

7. one of the four major division of the compass

8. a quarter of a hundredweight (25 pounds)

9. a quarter of a hundredweight (28 pounds)

10. a United States or Canadian coin worth one fourth of a dollar

11. an unspecified person

12. the rear part of a ship

13. piece of leather that comprises the part of a shoe or boot covering the heel and joining the vamp

14. clemency or mercy shown to a defeated opponent

  Familiarity information: QUARTER used as a noun is familiar.

• QUARTER (verb)
  The verb QUARTER has 4 senses:

1. provide housing for (military personnel)

2. pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his extremities, so as to execute him

3. divide into quarters

4. divide by four; divide into quarters

  Familiarity information: QUARTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUARTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of four equal parts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

fourth; fourth part; one-fourth; one-quarter; quarter; quartern; twenty-five percent

Context example:

a quarter of a pound

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

common fraction; simple fraction (the quotient of two integers)

Derivation:

quarter (divide into quarters)

quarter (pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his extremities, so as to execute him)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A district of a city having some distinguishing character

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

the Latin Quarter

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

city district (a district of a town or city)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quarter"):

ghetto (formerly the restricted quarter of many European cities in which Jews were required to live)

casbah; kasbah (an older or native quarter of many cities in northern Africa; the quarter in which the citadel is located)

medina (the ancient quarter of many cities in northern Africa)

skid road (the district of a town frequented by loggers)

barrio (a Spanish-speaking quarter in a town or city (especially in the United States))

Sense 3

Meaning:

(football, professional basketball) one of four divisions into which some games are divided

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

both teams scored in the first quarter

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)

Domain category:

football; football game (any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal)

professional basketball (playing basketball for money)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

period of play; play; playing period ((in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A unit of time equal to 15 minutes or a quarter of an hour

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

a quarter after 4 o'clock

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

time unit; unit of time (a unit for measuring time periods)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

60 minutes; hour; hr (a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day)

Sense 5

Meaning:

One of four periods into which the school year is divided

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

the fall quarter ends at Christmas

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

academic session; academic term; school term; session (the time during which a school holds classes)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

academic year; school year (the period of time each year when the school is open and people are studying)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A fourth part of a year; three months

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

unemployment fell during the last quarter

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Derivation:

quarterly (of or relating to or consisting of a quarter)

Sense 7

Meaning:

One of the four major division of the compass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Context example:

the wind is coming from that quarter

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

orientation (position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A quarter of a hundredweight (25 pounds)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

avoirdupois unit (any of the units of the avoirdupois system of weights)

Meronyms (parts of "quarter"):

lb; pound (16 ounces avoirdupois)

stone (an avoirdupois unit used to measure the weight of a human body; equal to 14 pounds)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

cental; centner; cwt; hundredweight; quintal; short hundredweight (a United States unit of weight equivalent to 100 pounds)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A quarter of a hundredweight (28 pounds)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

British capacity unit; Imperial capacity unit (a unit of measure for capacity officially adopted in the British Imperial System; British units are both dry and wet)

Meronyms (parts of "quarter"):

bushel (a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 pecks)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

cwt; hundredweight; long hundredweight (a British unit of weight equivalent to 112 pounds)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A United States or Canadian coin worth one fourth of a dollar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Context example:

he fed four quarters into the slot machine

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

coin (a flat metal piece (usually a disc) used as money)

Sense 11

Meaning:

An unspecified person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he dropped a word in the right quarter

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Sense 12

Meaning:

The rear part of a ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

after part; poop; quarter; stern; tail

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

back; rear (the side that goes last or is not normally seen)

Meronyms (parts of "quarter"):

escutcheon ((nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed)

skeg (a brace that extends from the rear of the keel to support the rudderpost)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Sense 13

Meaning:

Piece of leather that comprises the part of a shoe or boot covering the heel and joining the vamp

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

piece of leather (a separate part consisting of leather)

Holonyms ("quarter" is a part of...):

upper (piece of leather or synthetic material that forms the part of a shoe or boot above the sole that encases the foot)

Sense 14

Meaning:

Clemency or mercy shown to a defeated opponent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he surrendered but asked for quarter

Hypernyms ("quarter" is a kind of...):

clemency; mercifulness; mercy (leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice)

• QUARTER (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide housing for (military personnel)

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

billet; canton; quarter

Hypernyms (to "quarter" is one way to...):

accommodate; lodge (provide housing for)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

quartering (living accommodations (especially those assigned to military personnel))

quarters (housing available for people to live in)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his extremities, so as to execute him

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

draw; draw and quarter; quarter

Context example:

in the old days, people were drawn and quartered for certain crimes

Hypernyms (to "quarter" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

quarter (one of four equal parts)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Divide into quarters

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

quarter an apple

Hypernyms (to "quarter" is one way to...):

section; segment (divide into segments)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

quarter (one of four equal parts)

quartering (dividing into four equal parts)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Divide by four; divide into quarters

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "quarter" is one way to...):

divide; fraction (perform a division)

Domain category:

arithmetic (the branch of pure mathematics dealing with the theory of numerical calculations)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

quartering (dividing into four equal parts)

 Context examples 

There are his own two men pushing it back into its old quarters.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I demanded a quarter of an hour to think, before I again hazarded a reply.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The quarter of the breast which is inferior and lateral.

(Lower-Outer Quadrant of the Breast, NCI Thesaurus)

‘I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,’ said he; ‘only one person has passed during that time—a woman, tall and elderly, with a Paisley shawl.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Well, I tell you now,” replied the lad, “I didn't half a quarter like the job till I had this talk with you, John; but there's my hand on it now.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“I think, Watson, we can discuss this business better in our own quarters.”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Old Soldier was in permanent quarters under the Doctor's roof.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It would be well to pass the word that we should neither give nor take quarter this day.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This account of you we have from all quarters received.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We made our way back—the whole gorge was not more than a quarter of a mile deep—and then suddenly the quick eyes of Lord John fell upon what we were seeking.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)