quarter

American  

[kwawr-ter] / ˈkwɔr tər /

noun

• quarters
  plural

1. one of the four equal or equivalent parts into which anything is or may be divided.

   a quarter of an apple; a quarter of a book.

2. a fourth part, especially of one (¼).

3. one fourth of a U.S. or Canadian dollar, equivalent to 25 cents.

4. a coin of this value.

5. one fourth of an hour.

   He stayed there for an hour and a quarter.

6. the moment marking this period.

   The clock struck the quarter.

7. one fourth of a calendar or fiscal year.

   The bank sends out a statement each quarter.

8. Astronomy.

   1. a fourth of the moon's period or monthly revolution, being that portion of its period or orbital course between a quadrature and a syzygy.

   2. either quadrature of the moon.

9. (in schools, colleges, and universities) one of the terms or periods into which instruction is organized, generally 10 to 12 weeks in length.

10. Sports. any of the four periods that make up certain games, as football and basketball.

11. one fourth of a pound.

12. one fourth of a mile; two furlongs.

13. one fourth of a yard; 9 inches.

14. a unit of weight: one fourth of a hundredweight. In the U.S. this equals 25 pounds and in Britain 28 pounds.

15. British. a measure of capacity for grain, etc., equal to 8 bushels, or, locally, to approximately this.

16. the region of any of the four principal points of the compass or divisions of the horizon.

17. such a point or division.

18. any point or direction of the compass.

    The wind is blowing in that quarter.

19. a region, district, or place.

20. a particular district of a city or town, especially one generally occupied by a particular group of people.

    the Turkish quarter; an artists' quarter.

21. Usually quarters.

    1. housing accommodations, as a place of residence; lodgings.

    2. Military. the buildings, houses, barracks, or rooms occupied by military personnel or their families.

22. Often quarters. an unspecified part or member of a community, government, etc., that serves as a source of information or authority.

    He received secret information from a high quarter.

23. mercy or indulgence, especially as shown in sparing the life and accepting the surrender of a vanquished enemy.

    to give quarter; to ask for quarter.

24. one of the four parts, each including a leg, of the body or carcass of a quadruped.

25. Veterinary Medicine. the part of a horse's hoof between heel and toe.

26. Shoemaking. the part of a boot or shoe on each side of the foot, from the middle of the back to the vamp.

27. Nautical.

    1. the after part of a ship's side, usually from about the aftermost mast to the stern.

    2. the general horizontal direction 45° from the stern of a ship on either side.

       Another boat is coming near on the port quarter.

    3. one of the stations to which crew members are called for battle, emergencies, or drills.

    4. the part of a yard between the slings and the yardarm.

    5. quarter point.

28. Heraldry.

    1. any of the four equal areas into which an escutcheon may be divided by a vertical and a horizontal line passing through the center.

    2. any of the variously numbered areas into which an escutcheon may be divided for the marshaling of different arms.

    3. any of the arms marshaled on an escutcheon.

    4. a charge occupying one quarter of an escutcheon, especially that in dexter chief.

29. each half of a cask, consisting of the portion from the bilge to the top chime and the portion from the bilge to the bottom chime.

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verb (used with object)

• quarters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• quartered,
  past participle,  past
• quartering
  present participle

1. to divide into four equal or equivalent parts.

2. to divide into parts fewer or more than four.

   Quarter the pie into six pieces.

3. to cut the body of (a person) into quarters, especially in executing for treason or the like.

4. Machinery. to make holes in, fix, etc., a quarter of a circle apart.

5. to furnish with lodging in a particular place.

6. to impose (soldiers) on persons, towns, etc., to be lodged and fed.

   He quartered his men with the farmer.

7. to assign to a particular place for service, action, etc., as on a battleship.

8. to traverse (the ground) from left to right and right to left while advancing, as dogs in search of game.

9. Heraldry.

   1. to divide (an escutcheon) into four or more parts.

   2. to place or bear quarterly (different coats of arms, etc.) on an escutcheon.

   3. to display (a coat of arms) with one's own on an escutcheon.

verb (used without object)

• quarters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• quartered,
  past participle,  past
• quartering
  present participle

1. to take up, or be in quarters; lodge.

   to quarter in a cheap hotel.

2. to range to and fro, as dogs in search of game.

3. Nautical. to sail so as to have the wind or sea on the quarter.

adjective

1. being one of four equal or approximately equal parts into which anything is or may be divided.

2. being equal to only about one fourth of the full measure.

quarter British  

/ ˈkwɔːtə /

noun

1. one of four equal or nearly equal parts of an object, quantity, amount, etc

2. Also called: fourth. the fraction equal to one divided by four ( 1/ 4 )

3. a quarter of a dollar; 25-cent piece

4. a unit of weight equal to a quarter of a hundredweight. 1 US quarter is equal to 25 pounds; 1 Brit quarter is equal to 28 pounds

5. short for quarter-hour

6. a fourth part of a year; three months

7. astronomy

   1. one fourth of the moon's period of revolution around the earth

   2. either of two phases of the moon, first quarter or last quarter when half of the lighted surface is visible from the earth

8. informal a unit of weight equal to a quarter of a pound or 4 ounces

9. a unit of capacity for grain, etc, usually equal to 8 UK bushels

10. sport one of the four periods into which certain games are divided

11. nautical the part of a vessel's side towards the stern, usually aft of the aftermost mast

    the port quarter

12. nautical the general direction along the water in the quadrant between the beam of a vessel and its stern

    the wind was from the port quarter

13. a region or district of a town or city

    the Spanish quarter

14. a region, direction, or point of the compass

15. (sometimes plural) an unspecified person or group of people

    to get word from the highest quarter

16. mercy or pity, as shown to a defeated opponent (esp in the phrases ask for or give quarter )

17. any of the four limbs, including the adjacent parts, of the carcass of a quadruped or bird

    a hind quarter of beef

18. vet science the side part of the wall of a horse's hoof

19. the part of a shoe or boot covering the heel and joining the vamp

20. heraldry one of four more or less equal quadrants into which a shield may be divided

21. slang military short for quartermaster

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verb

1. (tr) to divide into four equal or nearly equal parts

2. (tr) to divide into any number of parts

3. (tr) (esp formerly) to dismember (a human body)

   to be drawn and quartered

4. to billet or be billeted in lodgings, esp (of military personnel) in civilian lodgings

5. (intr) (of gun dogs or hounds) to range over an area of ground in search of game or the scent of quarry

6. (intr) nautical (of the wind) to blow onto a vessel's quarter

   the wind began to quarter

7. (tr) heraldry

   1. to divide (a shield) into four separate bearings with a cross

   2. to place (one set of arms) in diagonally opposite quarters to another

adjective

1. being or consisting of one of four equal parts

   a quarter pound of butter

quarter Idioms  

1. see at close quarters; draw and quarter.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interquarter
  noun
• outquarters
  noun
• quarterer
  noun
• half-quarter
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• quarters
  plural

Participles

• quartering
  present
• quartered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• quarter
  simple
• quarters
  simple
• have quartered
  perfect
• has quartered
  perfect
• am quartering
  progressive
• are quartering
  progressive
• is quartering
  progressive
• have been quartering
  perfect progressive
• has been quartering
  perfect progressive

Past

• quartered
  simple
• had quartered
  perfect
• was quartering
  progressive
• were quartering
  progressive
• had been quartering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will quarter
  simple
• will have quartered
  perfect
• will be quartering
  progressive
• will have been quartering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of quarter

1250–1300; (noun) Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French quartier < Latin quartārius, equivalent to quart ( us ) fourth + -ārius -ary; (v.) Middle English quarteren, derivative of the noun

Explanation

A quarter is one-fourth of something. If you cut a pizza into four pieces and share it with three friends, each of you will eat a quarter of the pizza. A quarter is the same thing as twenty-five percent of something. Many sporting events are divided this way, and you'll often hear sports commentators saying things like, "Here is the score at the end of the first quarter." The Latin word quartus, "fourth," is at the root of quarter, and the earliest — and goriest — use specifically referred to a form of execution that involved dismembering a prisoner's body into four pieces, or quarters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quarter quarters quartered quartering

This includes a record-breaking $4.5 billion in rate increases during the third quarter, according to PowerLines, a consumer-education organization.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026

Utilities in Southern states asked for $2.2 billion in rate hikes during the third quarter, according to PowerLines, comprising the steepest requests in the country.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026

Dallas pulled to within 24-16 late in the fourth quarter, but Prescott threw his second interception of the night deep in Buccaneers territory with 1:16 remaining to seal the game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

At least a quarter of this hefty volume is devoted to scholarship of one sort or another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

By the time I’d set up a bill-paying system and gotten everything entered and paid, Auntie Buzz had turned a nice profit in the past quarter.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

To the sound of a fog horn, she roams through Alma’s quarters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

But in some quarters, the troubling costs of fish farming remain unaddressed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

With both numbers hitting all-time highs, the company will have broken its own records for both sales and operating profit for four consecutive quarters.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Nearly three quarters of England and all of Wales are still in drought.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Another time, sleeping in different quarters in Cange—the patriarch of the place was, after all, a priest—Ophelia was determined to rise early in the morning, ahead of Paul.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Expressing affection for a specific film in a public forum is grounds to be drawn and quartered in the social media town square.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026

Following World War I, fantastic “art” was largely identified with Surrealism, while popular fantasy was mostly quartered within the new mass-market ghettos of pulps, comics, film marketing and paperback books.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

Instead of Bath, Manueli turned out for Harlequins - a team who play in the famous quartered shirt but in south east Melbourne, rather than south west London.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025

Looking back on White’s original 500-word essay, trying to pinpoint the source of the internet’s ire, you might think you missed a line in which she insisted that all musicians be drawn and quartered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2024

Private Draper’s child, who hath for several days been quartered with us upon the Crepuscule, would not remove his shirt for washing.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Shortly afterward, Diane Hartley, a student at Princeton writing a thesis on the project, draws attention to the effect of quartering winds—winds hitting the building’s facades at an angle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

For the founding generation, their defining experience of the dangers of domestic deployment of the military was the Boston Massacre and the quartering of British troops in private homes.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2025

Interestingly, in the case of quartering waves, there was a negligible effect of propulsion power on the deviations.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2024

And I like quartering and searing them, which yields a similar size and crust as the beef.

From Slate ● Feb. 14, 2019

Mrs. Olinski hugged her upper arms and wondered if maybe it was nerves and not the quartering wind blowing from the ceiling vents that was causing her shivers.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Related Words

• fourth
• one-fourth
• part
• portion
• term