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

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

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

Regardless of his pain, he sprang to his feet, with his uninjured arm tore a loose bed-slat from the wagon, and, stepping across the line, thrust it into the finest quarter section of the strip.

From Woven with the Ship A Novel of 1865 by Brady, Cyrus Townsend

He spoke of Oregon, where any family could live and live well on a quarter section of land that was free for the taking.

From The Lost Wagon by Kjelgaard, James Arthur

A beautiful quarter section of land joined the town on the east, and the man who had drawn it had already established his residence thereupon, so that he was known.

From The Homesteader A Novel by Micheaux, Oscar