especially as a period for which bills are paid or a company’s income is calculated Hftft NlB; Alt;; ft

                PART OF TOWN fttK 4 [C, usually sing.] a district or part of a town MfllWIX ( s$L—llftft ) : the Latin quarter ftTK O the historic quarter of the city ^ftMilcAWME

                PERSON/GROUP ftA; MW 5 [C] a person or group of

people, especially as a source of help, information or a reaction (        flft,   if A,

H W: Support for the plan came from an unexpected quarter.       MJ        fto 0 The news

was greeted with dismay in some quarters. ft —0ft A

mmtiif'Jirto

                25 CENTS * 25 ft tk 6 [C] a coin of the US and Canada

worth 25 cents (        ) 25 ftllLffj

                ROOMS TO LIVE IN f! 7 quarters [pi.] rooms that are provided for soldiers, servants, etc. to live in ( ±

) MB,         kfe: We were moved to

more comfortable living quarters, A j|] I® J2; T ft: ii5 (ft ft ft c 0 married quarters

                OF MOON fj 8 [C] the period of time twice a month when we can see a quarter of the moon -ft HI H ;

( £&T:i£ ) ft : The moon is in its first quarter, f]

^EIEftft±£0

                IN SPORT ft u ft ft 9 [C] one of the four periods of time into which a game of American football is divided

(         ) -Hr

                WEIGHT tft :,! 10 [C] (BrE) a unit for measuring weight, a

quarter of a pound; 4 ounces ft# (       Va

4      ) 11 [C] a unit for measuring weight, 28 pounds

in the UK or 25 pounds in the US; a quarter of a HUNDREDWEIGHT ft# (   5£BA 28 £§, JiB

A 25

                 PITY ft ft 12 [U] (old-fashioned or literary) pity that sb shows towards an enemy or opponent who is in their power (       ) II, Bit 033

mercy : His rivals knew that they could expect no quarter from such a ruthless adversary, ft M ft # a,       im see close2

adj.

m verb [VN]

                DIVIDE INTO 4 ft ft 4 0} 1 to cut or divide sth into four parts fE-ftok ( ^ftJ& ) pg0ft: She peeled and quartered an apple.

                PROVIDE ROOMS ft ft] 2 (formal) to provide sb with a

place to eat and sleep ft • • •     # fi: The soldiers were

quartered in the town. ± Aft        ',1ft

quarterback /'kwaitabask; NAmE 'kwoirtarbaek/ noun, verb

a noun (in American football H A/1.J£) the player who directs the team’s attacking play and passes the ball to other players at the start of each attack (      )

pgftip.

a verb 1 [V] (in American football     to play as a

quarterback ft 0 ft IE 2 [VN] to direct or organize sth

'quarter day noun (BrE, technical Aft) the first day of a quarter (= a period of three months) on which payments must be made, for example at the stock exchange

0)

quarter-deck /'kwaitadek; NAmE 'kwoirtardek/ noun a part of the upper level of a ship, at the back, that is used mainly by officers .hM M ^    ( iScf&A'iT

\m) ,

quarter- final noun (in sports or competitions ftWis if] ^ tL H) one of the four games or matches to decide the players or teams for the semi-finals of a competi­tion pgft£-&#

'Quarter Horse noun (NAmE) a small breed of horse that can run very fast over short distances pgftft — ^

quarterly /'kwaitali; NAmE 'kwairtarli/ adj., adv., noun

madj. produced or happening every three months A® Eft ft Aft: a quarterly meeting of the board left ft ft AfSIzki^ ► quar-ter-iy adv.: to pay the rent quarterly ft

mnoun (pi. -ies) a magazine, etc. published four times a year AfJ

| 1621

quar-ter-mas-ter /’kwa:tama:sta(r); NAmE 'kwairtar- maes-/ noun an officer in the army who is in charge of providing food, uniforms and accommodation %

l=f; Anti'S:

'quarter note noun (NAmE, music #) = crotchet quarter sessions noun [pi.] (in England, in the past) a court with limited powers that was held every three months (   Aft

mm

'quarter-tone noun (music ft) a quarter of a tone on a musical scale, for example half of the interval (= the difference) between the notes E and F PS ft ft—If; 0

ft®

quartet /kwai'tet; NAmE kwoir'tet/ noun 1 [C+sing./pl. v.] a group of four musicians or singers who play or sing together pg Jr ft A ® B Jr PI £1 ft : the Amadeus Quartet   2 [C] a piece of music for

four musicians or singers Ell ( | ) ; PS Jr Pi ( ft ) : a Beethoven string quartet 3 [C+sing./pl. v.] a set of four people or things 0AS;

PS ft®; P9 0 ft: the last in a quartet of novels pg 0 ft

fti^ftfi/5-ft

quar-tiie /'kwoitail; NAmE 'kwairt-; -tl/ noun (statistics if) one of four equal groups into which a set of things can be divided according to the distribution of a particular variable PSftfitiC; pgftfvfji: women in the fourth quartile of height (= the shortest 25% of women) ( SPft^ft 25%       )

                compare quintile

quarto /‘kwaitau; NAmE 'kwoirtou/ noun (pi. -os) (tech­nical ft ft) 1 [U] a size of page made by folding a standard sheet of paper twice to make eight pages pg ft

( ^?££p3fc|!Hjpgftft—A4> ) 2 [C] a book with pages in quarto size pg ft ft gift

quartz /kwaits; NAmE kworrts/ noun [U] a hard mineral, often in crystal form, that is used to make very accurate clocks and watches ft ft qua-sar /'kweizai(r)/ noun (astronomy ft) a large object like a star, that is far away and that shines very brightly and occasionally sends out strong radio signals ftji#

                compare pulsar

quash /kwtij; NAmE kwa:J7 verb [VN] 1 (law ^) to offi­cially say that a decision made by a court is no longer valid or correct ft ft (     )

Pm overturn : His conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal. Jgft, ± i/ri£ iM 7   W ft IP

£|J  0       2 to take action to stop sth from continuing

ft«Jit; Bilk; AS SCI suppress: The rumours were quickly quashed. MW^I'l&l&ri'JjkTo quasi- /'kweizai; -sai; 'kwaizi/ combining form (in adjectives and nouns   *1 that appears

to be sth but is not really so A M: a quasi-scientific explanation ^ ilf 14 A PiJ fR M 2 partly; almost ft; M: a quasi-official body ftft AUlftJ quat-er-cen-ten-ary /.kwaetasen'tirnari; NAmE -tarsen- 'teneri/ noun (pi. -ies) a 400th anniversary * 400 j§ift£E S;: to celebrate the quatercentenary of Shakespeare’s birth  400 M ¥

quat rain /'kwntrein; NAmE 'kwa:t-/ noun (technical ftft) a poem or verse of a poem that has four lines pg ft if; pg ft Wit ft

qua ver /'kweiv9(r)/ verb, noun

mverb if sb’s voice quavers, it is unsteady, usually because the person is nervous or afraid (

^ ) Mft, Mifi: [V] ‘I’m not safe here, am I?’ she asked in a quavering voice.

P® Bilo [also V speech] ► qua very /'kweivari/ adj.: a quavery voice #

mnoun 1 (BrE) (NAmE 'eighth note) (music ®) a note that lasts half as long as a crotchet/quarter note A ft h1 ft — picture o music 2 [usually sing.] a shaking sound in sb’s voice       ft

quay /ki:/ noun a platform in a harbour where boats come in to load, etc.  A crowd was waiting

on the quay, ft—