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

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

Hurley's quarter section was a matter of four miles away, and Joe had met the man only once before.

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

So before returning home I had bought a quarter section near Bloomington, and that next spring we moved unto a rented place adjoining it.

From Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the Prairies of Dakota Or, From the ox team to the aeroplane by Reese, H. B.