Quarter

Quarter, kwor′tėr, n. a fourth part: the fourth part of a cwt.=28 lb. avoirdupois (abbrev. qr.): 8 bushels, as a measure of capacity, for grain, &c.: the fourth part of an hour—of the year—of the moon's period—of a carcass (including a limb)—of the horizon, &c.: a cardinal point: (her.) one of the four parts into which a shield is divided by quartering (dexter chief, sinister chief, dexter base, sinister base), an ordinary occupying one-fourth of the field: a region of a hemisphere: a division of a town, &c.: place of lodging, as for soldiers, esp. in pl.: mercy granted to a disabled antagonist, prob. from the idea of the captor sending the prisoner to his quarters: (Shak.) peace, concord: (naut.) the part of a ship's side between the mainmast and the stern.—v.t. to divide into four equal parts: to divide into parts or compartments: to furnish with quarters: to lodge: to allot or share: to furnish with entertainment: (her.) to bear as an appendage to the hereditary arms: to beat the ground for game.—v.i. to be stationed: to shift or change position: to range for game: to drive across a road from side to side.—ns. Quar′terāge, a quarterly payment: quarters, lodging: a name applied to a particular tax; Quar′ter-back, a certain player or position in football (see Back); Quar′ter-bend, a bend in a pipe or rod altering its direction 90°; Quar′ter-bill, a list of the stations for men on board a man-of-war during action; Quar′ter-blank′et, a horse-blanket for the hind quarters.—n.pl. Quar′ter-blocks, blocks fitted under the quarters of a yard, on each side the slings, for the topsail-sheets, &c., to reeve through.—ns. Quar′ter-board, topgallant bulwarks; Quar′ter-boat, any boat hung to davits over the ship's quarter; Quar′ter-boot, a leather boot to protect an overreaching horse's fore feet from being struck by the hind feet.—adj. Quar′ter-bound, having leather or cloth on the back only.—n.pl. Quar′ter-boys, automata which strike the quarter-hours in certain belfries.—adjs. Quar′ter-bred, having only one-fourth pure blood, as horses, cattle, &c.; Quar′ter-cast, cut in the quarter of the hoof.—ns. Quar′ter-day, the first or last day of a quarter, on which rent or interest is paid; Quar′ter-deck, the part of the deck of a ship abaft the mainmast; Quar′ter-deck′er (coll.), a stickler for small points of etiquette on board ship.—adj. Quar′tered, divided into four equal parts: lodged, stationed for lodging: having hind quarters of a particular kind, as a short-quartered horse: sawed into quarters: (her.) having a square piece cut out of the centre.—ns. Quar′ter-ē′vil, -ill, symptomatic anthrax, an infectious and frequently fatal disease of cattle, marked by hemorrhage into the subcutaneous areolar tissue of the limbs—also Black-leg, Quarter, or Spaul, &c.; Quar′terfoil (archit.), an ornamental carving disposed in four segments of circles like an expanded flower; Quar′ter-gall′ery, a projecting balcony on each of the quarters of a large ship: a small structure on a ship's quarters containing the water-closet and bath-tub; Quar′ter-gun′ner, a petty-officer in the United States navy, having care, under the gunner, of arms, ammunition, &c.—adj. Quar′tering, sailing nearly before the wind: striking on the quarter of a ship, as a wind.—n. assignment of quarters to soldiers: (archit.) a series of small upright posts for forming partitions of rooms, lathed and plastered only, or boarded also: (her.) the bearing of two or more coats-of-arms on a shield divided by horizontal and perpendicular lines, denoting the alliances of the family—also, one of the divisions thus formed.—ns. Quar′tering-block, a block on which the body of a person condemned to be quartered was cut in pieces; Quar′ter-line, the position of ships of a column ranged in a line when one is four points forward or abaft another's beam.—adj. Quar′terly, relating to a quarter: consisting of, or containing, a fourth part: once a quarter of a year.—adv. once a quarter: (her.) arranged according to the four quarters of a shield.—n. a periodical published every quarter of a year.—ns. Quar′termaster, an officer who looks after the quarters of the soldiers, and attends to the supplies—he is assisted by a non-commissioned officer named Quar′termaster-ser′geant: (naut.) a first-class petty officer who attends to the helm, signals, &c.; Quar′termaster-gen′eral, in the British army, a staff-officer of high rank (major-general or colonel) who deals with all questions of transport, marches, quarters, fuel, clothing, &c.; Quar′tern, the fourth part of a peck, a stone, or a pint: the quarter of a pound; Quar′tern-loaf, a loaf weighing, generally, four pounds; Quarteroon′ (see Quadroon); Quar′ter-plate, in photography, a size of plate measuring 3¼ by 4¼ inches: a picture of this size; Quar′ter-round, a moulding having an outline approximating to a quadrant, an ovolo: any tool adapted for making such; Quar′ter-seal, the seal kept by the director of the Chancery of Scotland—the testimonial of the Great Seal; Quar′ter-ses′sions, a criminal court held quarterly by Justices of the Peace, established in 1350-51, but having had most of its administrative powers transferred in 1888 to the County Councils: county or borough sessions held quarterly; Quar′ter-staff, a long staff or weapon of defence, grasped at a quarter of its length from the end and at the middle; Quar′ter-tone (mus.), an interval equivalent to one-half of a semitone; Quar′ter-watch (naut.), one-half of the watch on deck; Quartette′, Quartet′, anything in fours: a musical composition of four parts for voices or instruments: a stanza of four lines.—adj. Quar′tic (math.), of the fourth degree or order.—n. an algebraic function of the fourth degree.—n. Quar′tile (astrol.), an aspect of planets when their longitudes differ by 90°.—adj. Quar′to, having the sheet folded into four leaves (abbrev. 4to).—n. a book of a quarto size:—pl. Quar′tos (demy quarto, 8¾ × 11¼ in.; medium quarto, 9¼ × 11¾ in.; royal quarto, 10 × 12½ in.).—Beat up the quarters of, to disturb: to visit unceremoniously; Come to close quarters, to get into a hand-to-hand struggle.—Small quarto, a square octavo: a book having eight leaves to a sheet but the shape of a quarto.—Winter quarters, the quarters or station of an army during the winter. [O. Fr.,—L. quartarius—quartus, fourth.]