quarter section

American  

noun

Western U.S.

1. (in surveying and homesteading) a square tract of land, half a mile on each side, thus containing ¼ sq. mi. or 160 acres. q.s.

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quarter section British  

noun

1. a land measure, used in surveying, with sides half a mile long; 160 acres

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Etymology

Origin of quarter section

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Harnack's narrator is a middle-aged dirt farmer named August who left Iowa in his youth, then returned, half unwilling, to the quarter section staked out by his grandfather.

From Time Magazine Archive

Secretary Roper precipitately announced that PWA would allocate $1,500,000 to build a quarter section of one sea-drome behind the Delaware Breakwater.

From Time Magazine Archive

Took jobs here and there for four years, and then applied for a quarter section.

From A Boy of the Dominion A Tale of Canadian Immigration by Brereton, F. S. (Frederick Sadleir)

I thought it would, indeed, be a poor quarter section that would not have eighty acres of farm land, so I took my chances.

From Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences by Daughters of the American Revolution. Nebraska

Freeman owned the quarter section of government land, on which the buildings referred to were located.

From Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences by Daughters of the American Revolution. Nebraska