quarters
Britishplural noun
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housing or accommodation, esp as provided for military personnel and their families
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the stations assigned to military personnel, esp to each crew member of a warship
general quarters
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(in India) housing provided by an employer or by the government
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slang (functioning as singular) military short for quartermaster
Explanation
A place for people to live, especially if they're in the military, can be called quarters. If you join the Army, your quarters might be a dorm-like space that you share with many other people. You can use this word to mean "housing" generally, although it's most common for soldiers and servants to live in quarters. A wealthy family with maids and a butler who live in their house might set aside servants' quarters on the top floor, for example. During the period of slavery in the US, slaves also lived in quarters. If you and your brother live in "close quarters," it means the two of you share a fairly small room.
Vocabulary lists containing quarters
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912
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The Lion of Mars
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Three Keys
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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.
Marvell has already been discussed External link by analysts as a potential candidate for S&P 500 inclusion in recent quarters.
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
Baidu expects to list its chip unit in Hong Kong this year, and for artificial-intelligence income.to support healthy revenue growth over the next few quarters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
Too many people face a "cliff-edge drop in income" when they retire, with more than three quarters not on course to save enough for a "moderate" lifestyle, a pensions trade body has warned.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
Over the next two quarters, real estate and banks were decimated.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
She'd seen maps of the floating Marvellian cities—the bustling canals of Astradam, the elegant streets of Celestian, the entertaining quarters of Betelmore—in Papa's office.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
