- a variation of choir.
quire
1 Americannoun
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a set of 24 uniform sheets of paper.
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Bookbinding. a section of printed leaves in proper sequence after folding; gathering.
noun
noun
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a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper; a twentieth of a ream
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four sheets of paper folded once to form a section of 16 pages
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a section or gathering
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a set of all the sheets in a book
noun
Etymology
Origin of quire
1175–1225; Middle English quayer < Middle French quaier < Vulgar Latin *quaternum set of four sheets, derivative of Latin quarternī four each
Explanation
Like a ream or a bale, a quire is a quantity of paper. There are 25 sheets of paper in a quire, plenty for you to write that short story. A quire is one-twentieth of a ream, which today means 25 pieces of paper per quire. Originally, each quire contained 24 sheets, a measurement that's still occasionally used for handmade paper. During the Middle Ages, a quire was a little book or pamphlet made from four folded sheets of parchment. The name stems from the medieval Latin quaternum, "set of four sheets of parchment," and the root quater, "four times."
Vocabulary lists containing quire
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The soaring, light-filled quire in Rochester Cathedral has witnessed centuries of worship.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Standing in the quire of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, he remembered his mother and offered his people comfort after a year of loss and upheaval.
From New York Times ● Dec. 25, 2022
The queen will be buried at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, which is next to the quire of the main St George's Chapel.
From Reuters ● Sep. 19, 2022
But the Bengals are quire charitable to opposing QBs, being picked apart at a 121.0 rating that is better than only Kansas City’s 121.4.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 19, 2021
I am at the end of this book; there are no further leaves to write upon, but the stubs of that quire I tore out to instruct my friends in writing.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
To duplicate the U.N. talks by per sonal visits to all the capitals of the statesmen he was seeing would have re quired a three-month, globe-girdling tour.
From Time Magazine Archive
The unwrapping of the old young body, a most delicate operation, re- quired seven days.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then quired the morning stars, and at their concordance Stannum was affrighted....
From Melomaniacs by James Huneker
He set down his barrow, and, putting upon himself the refined aspect that a conversation with a lady re- quired, spoke to Bathsheba over the gate.
From Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
What seemed like common sense to him was a legal spider web that Higgins was re- quired to think through.
From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Winn Schwartau
For evermore thou hear'st immortal Pan And those melodious godheads, ever young And ever quiring, on the mountains old.
From Underwoods by Robert Louis Stevenson
His philosophy is of the beautiful, as was Keats', and while he lingers by the river's edge to catch the song of the reeds, his gaze is oftener fixed on the quiring planets.
From Chopin : the Man and His Music by James Huneker
But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims.
From Handy Dictionary of Poetical Quotations by Various
He had just picked up a rail to lay it on the fire in better shape, when he heard a weak voice in quiring: "Does anybody know where the 200th Ind. is?"
From Si Klegg, Book 2 (of 6) Thru The Stone River Campaign And In Winter Quarters At Murfreesboro by John McElroy
The widow was a sweet young thing whom John was bent on marrying, And quiring at her casement seemed romantic to the boy.
From Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses by Thomas Hardy
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