3 N‑SING A person's or animal's quarry is the person or animal that they are hunting.
quart /kwɔː r t/ (quarts ) N‑COUNT [num N ] A quart is a unit of volume that is equal to two pints. □ [+ of ] Pick up a quart of milk or a loaf of bread.
quar|ter ◆◆◇ /kwɔː r tə r / (quarters , quartering , quartered )
1 FRACTION A quarter is one of four equal parts of something. □ [+ of ] A quarter of the residents are over 55 years old. □ [+ of ] I've got to go in a quarter of an hour. □ Prices have fallen by a quarter since January. □ Cut the peppers into quarters. ● PREDET Quarter is also a predeterminer. □ The largest asteroid is Ceres, which is about a quarter the size of the moon. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Quarter is also an adjective. □ …the past quarter century.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A quarter is a fixed period of three months. Companies often divide their financial year into four quarters. □ The group said results for the third quarter are due on October 29.
3 N‑UNCOUNT [oft a N ] When you are telling the time, you use quarter to talk about the fifteen minutes before or after an hour. For example, 8.15 is quarter past eight, and 8.45 is quarter to nine. In American English, you can also say that 8.15 is a quarter after eight and 8.45 is a quarter of nine. □ [+ to ] It was quarter to six. □ [+ of ] I got a call at a quarter of seven one night.
4 VERB If you quarter something such as a fruit or a vegetable, you cut it into four roughly equal parts. □ [V n] Chop the mushrooms and quarter the tomatoes.
5 VERB [usu passive] If the number or size of something is quartered , it is reduced to about a quarter of its previous number or size. □ [be V -ed] The doses I suggested for adults could be halved or quartered.
6 N‑COUNT A quarter is an American or Canadian coin that is worth 25 cents. □ I dropped a quarter into the slot of the pay phone.
7 N‑COUNT A particular quarter of a town is a part of the town where a particular group of people traditionally live or work. □ Look for hotels in the French Quarter.
8 N‑COUNT To refer to a person or group you may not want to name, you can talk about the reactions or actions from a particular quarter . □ Help came from an unexpected quarter.
9 N‑PLURAL The rooms provided for soldiers, sailors, or servants to live in are called their quarters . □ Mckinnon went down from deck to the officers' quarters.
10 PHRASE If you do something at close quarters , you do it very near to a particular person or thing. □ You can watch aircraft take off or land at close quarters.
quarter|back /kwɔː r tə r bæk/ (quarterbacks ) N‑COUNT In American football, a quarterback is the player on the attacking team who begins each play and who decides which play to use. [AM ]
qua rter-fi nal (quarter-finals ) in AM, use quarterfinal N‑COUNT A quarter-final is one of the four matches in a competition which decides which four players or teams will compete in the semi-final. □ The very least I'm looking for in this tournament is to reach the quarter-finals.
qua rter-fi nalist (quarter-finalists ) N‑COUNT A quarter-finalist is a person or team that is competing in a quarter-final.
quar|ter|ly /kwɔː r tə r li/ (quarterlies )
1 ADJ A quarterly event happens four times a year, at intervals of three months. □ …the latest Bank of Japan quarterly survey of 5,000 companies. ● ADV [ADV after v] Quarterly is also an adverb. □ It makes no difference whether dividends are paid quarterly or annually.
2 N‑COUNT [oft N n] A quarterly is a magazine that is published four times a year, at intervals of three months.
qua r|ter note (quarter notes ) N‑COUNT A quarter note is a musical note that has a time value equal to two eighth notes. [AM ] in BRIT, use crotchet
qua r|ter pou nd|er (quarter pounders ) N‑COUNT A quarter pounder is a hamburger that weighs four ounces before it is cooked. Four ounces is a quarter of a pound.
quar|tet /kwɔː r te t/ (quartets )
1 N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb] A quartet is a group of four people who play musical instruments or sing together. □ …a string quartet. □ [+ of ] …a quartet of singers.
2 N‑COUNT A quartet is a piece of music for four instruments or four singers.
quartz /kwɔː r ts/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Quartz is a mineral in the form of a hard, shiny crystal. It is used in making electronic equipment and very accurate watches and clocks. □ …a quartz crystal.
qua|sar /kwe I zɑː r / (quasars ) N‑COUNT A quasar is an object far away in space that produces bright light and radio waves.
quash /kwɒ ʃ/ (quashes , quashing , quashed )
1 VERB If a court or someone in authority quashes a decision or judgment, they officially reject it. □ [V n] The Appeal Court has quashed the convictions of all eleven people.
2 VERB If someone quashes rumours, they say or do something to demonstrate that the rumours are not true. □ [V n] Graham attempted to quash rumours of growing discontent.
3 VERB To quash a rebellion or protest means to stop it, often in a violent way. □ [V n] Troops were displaying an obvious reluctance to get involved in quashing demonstrations.