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Synonyms

quire

1 American  
[kwahyuhr] / kwaɪər /

noun

  1. a set of 24 uniform sheets of paper.

  2. Bookbinding. a section of printed leaves in proper sequence after folding; gathering.

quire 2 American  
[kwahyuhr] / kwaɪər /

noun

quired, quiring

  1. Archaic. an archaic spelling of choir.

quire 1 British  
/ kwaɪə /

noun

  1. a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper; a twentieth of a ream

    1. four sheets of paper folded once to form a section of 16 pages

    2. a section or gathering

  3. a set of all the sheets in a book

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
quire 2 British  
/ kwaɪə /

noun

  1. an obsolete spelling of choir

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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."

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Vocabulary lists containing quire

Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q

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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.

Austin Quire, 20, and Andrew Tabak, 24, recognize the cafe feels like what transplants and TikTok users associate with Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2024

All stand as the Coffin passes through the West Door and moves in procession to the Quire as the Choir sings:

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2022

Bishops Samuel J. Quire Jr. of Liberia and Owan Tshibang Kasap of the UMC’s Southern Congo district also have indicated they would join the breakaway.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 20, 2021

The civil rights group, Focus on Race Relations: Frankfort, had shared Black residents’ concerns about Farmer with Sheriff Chris Quire last summer.

From The Guardian • Feb. 4, 2021

There let the pealing organ blow To the full-voiced Quire below, In service high and anthems clear, As may with sweetness, through mine ear, Dissolve me into ecstacies, And bring all Heaven before mine eyes.

From Hospital Sketches by Peabody, Robert Swain

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.