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Showing results for quire. Search instead for quires.
Synonyms

quire

1 American  
[kwahyuhr] / kwaɪər /

noun

  1. a set of 24 uniform sheets of paper.

  2. Bookbinding. a section of printed leaves in proper sequence after folding; gathering.

quire 2 American  
[kwahyuhr] / kwaɪər /

noun

quired, quiring

  1. Archaic. an archaic spelling of choir.

quire 1 British  
/ kwaɪə /

noun

  1. a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper; a twentieth of a ream

    1. four sheets of paper folded once to form a section of 16 pages

    2. a section or gathering

  3. a set of all the sheets in a book

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
quire 2 British  
/ kwaɪə /

noun

  1. an obsolete spelling of choir

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of quire

1175–1225; Middle English quayer < Middle French quaier < Vulgar Latin *quaternum set of four sheets, derivative of Latin quarternī four each

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.

A virtual tour of the area available on the website for St George's Chapel shows it still hanging near the door leading into the quire.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025

The queen will be buried at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, which is next to the quire of the main St George's Chapel.

From Reuters • Sep. 19, 2022

But the Bengals are quire charitable to opposing QBs, being picked apart at a 121.0 rating that is better than only Kansas City’s 121.4.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 19, 2021

No energy for a quire of paper to be scrawled across.

From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2020

I have removed the final pages of this book as a quire, and it is my purpose to use them to demonstrate the arts of literacy.

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

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.