quarter
n 1: one of four equal parts; "a quarter of a pound" [syn: {one-fourth},
{fourth}, {fourth part}, {twenty-five percent}, {quartern}]
2: a district of a city having some distinguishing character;
"the Latin Quarter"
3: one of four periods of play into which some games are
divided; "both teams scored in the first quarter"
4: a unit of time equal to 15 minutes or a quarter of an hour;
"it's a quarter til 4"; "a quarter after 4 o'clock"
5: one of four periods into which the school year is divided;
"the fall quarter ends at Christmas"
6: a fourth part of a year; three months; "unemployment fell
during the last quarter"
7: one of the four major division of the compass; "the wind is
coming from that quarter"
8: a quarter of a hundredweight (25 pounds)
9: a quarter of a hundredweight (28 pounds)
10: a United States coin worth one fourth of a dollar; "he fed
four quarters into the slot machine"
11: an unspecified person; "he dropped a word in the right
quarter"
12: the rear part of a ship [syn: {stern}, {after part}, {poop},
{tail}]
13: piece of leather that comprises the part of a shoe or boot
covering the heel and joining the vamp
v 1: provide housing for (military personnel) [syn: {billet}, {canton}]
2: pull (a person) apart with four horses tied to his
extremities, so as to execute him; "in the old days,
people were drawn and quartered for certain crimes" [syn:
{draw}, {draw and quarter}]
3: divide into quarters; "quarter an apple"
4: divide by four; divide into quarters
Source: WordNet® 2.0
quarter n. Two bits. This in turn comes from the `pieces of eight'
famed in pirate movies -- Spanish silver crowns that could be broken
into eight pie-slice-shaped `bits' to make change. Early in American
history the Spanish coin was considered equal to a dollar, so each of
these `bits' was considered worth 12.5 cents. Syn. {tayste}, {crumb},
{quad}. Usage: rare. General discussion of such terms is under {nybble}.
Source: The Jargon File
