Part 98
He was full of joke and jest, But all his merry quips are o'er.
Tennyson.
Quip, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quipped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Quipping (?).] To taunt; to treat with quips.
The more he laughs, and does her closely quip.
Spenser.
Quip, v. i. To scoff; to use taunts. Sir H. Sidney.
Qui"po (?), n. Same as Quipu.
||Qui"pu (?), n.; pl. Quipus (#). [Peruv. quipu a knot.] A contrivance ||employed by the ancient Peruvians, Mexicans, etc., as a substitute ||for writing and figures, consisting of a main cord, from which hung ||at certain distances smaller cords of various colors, each having a ||special meaning, as silver, gold, corn, soldiers. etc. Single, ||double, and triple knots were tied in the smaller cords, representing ||definite numbers. It was chiefly used for arithmetical purposes, and ||to register important facts and events. [Written also quipo.] Tylor.
The mysterious science of the quipus . . . supplied the Peruvians with the means of communicating their ideas to one another, and of transmitting them to future generations.
Prescott.
Quir"boil*ly` (kwr"boi*l`), n. [OE. cuir bouilli.] Leather softened by boiling so as to take any required shape. Upon drying, it becomes exceedingly hard, and hence was formerly used for armor. [Obs.] "His jambeux were of quyrboilly." Chaucer.
Quire (kwr), n. See Choir. [Obs.] Spenser.
A quire of such enticing birds.
Shak.
Quire, v. i. To sing in concert. [R.] Shak.
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Quire (kwr), n. [OE. quaer, quair, OF. quayer, cayer, caÔer, F. cahier, a book of loose sheets, a quarter of a quire, LL. quaternus, quaternum, sheets of paper packed together, properly, four together, fr. L. quaterni four each, by fours, quattuor four. See Four, and cf. Cahier.] A collection of twenty-four sheets of paper of the same size and quality, unfolded or having a single fold; one twentieth of a ream.
Quir"is*ter (kwr"s*tr), n. [See Quire, Chorister.] A chorister. See Chorister. [R.] Thomson.
Quir`i*ta"tion (kwr`*t"shn), n. [L. quiritatio, fr. quiritare to raise a plaintive cry, v. freq. fr. queri to complain.] A crying for help. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
Qui"rite (kw"rt), n. One of the Quirites.
||Qui*ri"tes (kw*r"tz), n. pl. [L., fr. Cures, a Sabine town.] (Rom. ||Antiq.) Roman citizens.
After the Sabines and Romans had united themselves into one community, under Romulus, the name of Quirites was taken in addition to that of Romani, the Romans calling themselves in a civil capacity Quirites, while in a political and military capacity they retained the name of Romani. Andrews.
Quirk (kwrk), n. [Written also querk.] [Cf. W. chwiori to turn briskly, or E. queer.] 1. A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger. "Some quirk or . . . evasion." Spenser.
We ground the justification of our nonconformity on dark subtilties and intricate quirks.
Barrow.
2. A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice. [Obs.] "Quirks of joy and grief." Shak.
3. A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
Some odd quirks and remnants of wit.
Shak.
4. An irregular air; as, light quirks of music. Pope.
5. (Building) A piece of ground taken out of any regular ground plot or floor, so as to make a court, yard, etc.; -- sometimes written quink. Gwilt.
6. (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex rounded molding.
Quirk molding, a bead between two quirks.
Quirked (kwrkt), a. Having, or formed with, a quirk or quirks.
Quirk"ish (kwrk"sh), a. Consisting of quirks; resembling a quirk. Barrow.
Quirk"y (-), a. Full of quirks; tricky; as, a quirky lawyer.
Quirl (kwrl), n. & v. See Querl.
Quir"pele (kwr"pl), n. [Tamil krippiai.] (Zoˆl.) The Indian ferret.
Quirt (kwrt), n. A rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide. T. Roosevelt.
Quish (kwsh), n. See Cuish.
Quit (kwt), n. (Zoˆl.) Any one of numerous species of small passerine birds native of tropical America. See Banana quit, under Banana, and Guitguit.
Quit (kwt), a. [OE. quite, OF. quite, F. quitte. See Quit, v., Quiet.] Released from obligation, charge, penalty, etc.; free; clear; absolved; acquitted. Chaucer.
The owner of the ox shall be quit.
Ex. xxi. 28.
This word is sometimes used in the form quits, colloquially; as, to be quits with one, that is, to have made mutual satisfaction of demands with him; to be even with him; hence, as an exclamation: Quits! we are even, or on equal terms. "To cry quits with the commons in their complaints." Fuller.
Quit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quit or Quitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Quitting.] [OE. quiten, OF. quiter, quitier, cuitier, F. quitter, to acquit, quit, LL. quietare, fr. L. quietare to calm, to quiet, fr. quietus quiet. See Quiet, a., and cf. Quit, a., Quite, Acquit, Requite.] 1. To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate. [R.]
To quit you of this fear, you have already looked Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it?
Wake.
2. To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, or the like; to absolve; to acquit.
There may no gold them quyte.
Chaucer.
God will relent, and quit thee all his debt.
Milton.
3. To discharge, as an obligation or duty; to meet and satisfy, as a claim or debt; to make payment for or of; to requite; to repay.
The blissful martyr quyte you your meed.
Chaucer.
Enkindle all the sparks of nature To quit this horrid act.
Shak.
Before that judge that quits each soul his hire.
Fairfax.
4. To meet the claims upon, or expectations entertained of; to conduct; to acquit; -- used reflexively.
Be strong, and quit yourselves like men.
1 Sam. iv. 9.
Samson hath quit himself Like Samson.
Milton.
5. To carry through; to go through to the end. [Obs.]
Never worthy prince a day did quit With greater hazard and with more renown.
Daniel.
6. To have done with; to cease from; to stop; hence, to depart from; to leave; to forsake; as, to quit work; to quit the place; to quit jesting.
Such a superficial way of examining is to quit truth for appearance.
Locke.
To quit cost, to pay; to reimburse. -- To quit scores, to make even; to clear mutually from demands.
Does not the earth quit scores with all the elements in the noble fruits that issue from it?
South.
Syn. -- To leave; relinquish; resign; abandon; forsake; surrender; discharge; requite. -- Quit, Leave. Leave is a general term, signifying merely an act of departure; quit implies a going without intention of return, a final and absolute abandonment.
Quit, v. i. To go away; to depart; to stop doing a thing; to cease.
Quitch (kwch), n. 1. (Bot.) Same as Quitch grass.
2. Figuratively: A vice; a taint; an evil.
To pick the vicious quitch Of blood and custom wholly out of him.
Tennyson.
Quitch" grass` (kwch" grs`). [Properly quick grass, being probably so called from its vigorous growth, or from its tenacity of life. See Quick, and cf. Couch grass.] (Bot.) A perennial grass (Agropyrum repens) having long running rootstalks, by which it spreads rapidly and pertinaciously, and so becomes a troublesome weed. Also called couch grass, quack grass, quick grass, twitch grass. See Illustration in Appendix.
Quit"claim` (kwt"klm`), n. [Quit, a. + claim.] (Law) A release or relinquishment of a claim; a deed of release; an instrument by which some right, title, interest, or claim, which one person has, or is supposed to have, in or to an estate held by himself or another, is released or relinquished, the grantor generally covenanting only against persons who claim under himself.
Quit"claim`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quitclaimed (-klmd`); p. pr. & vb. n. Quitclaiming.] (Law) To release or relinquish a claim to; to release a claim to by deed, without covenants of warranty against adverse and paramount titles.
Quite (kwt), v. t. & i. See Quit. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Quite (kwt), adv. [F. quitte discharged, free, clear; cf. OF. quitement freely, frankly, entirely. See Quit, a.]
1. Completely; wholly; entirely; totally; perfectly; as, the work is not quite done; the object is quite accomplished; to be quite mistaken.
Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will.
Milton.
The same actions may be aimed at different ends, and arise from quite contrary principles.
Spectator.
2. To a great extent or degree; very; very much; considerably. "Quite amusing." Macaulay.
He really looks quite concerned.
Landor.
The island stretches along the land and is quite close to it.
Jowett (Thucyd. ).
Quit"ly (kwt"l), adv. Quite. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Quit"rent` (kwt"rnt`), n. [Quit, a. + rent.] (Law) A rent reserved in grants of land, by the payment of which the tenant is quit from other service. Blackstone.
In some of the United States a fee-farm rent is so termed. Burrill.
Quits (kwts), interj. See the Note under Quit, a.
Quit"ta*ble (kwt"t*b'l), a. Capable of being quitted.
Quit"tal (-tal), n. Return; requital; quittance. [Obs.]
Quit"tance (-tans), n. [OE. quitaunce, OF. quitance, F. quittance. See Quit, v. t.] 1. Discharge from a debt or an obligation; acquittance.
Omittance is no quittance.
Shak.
2. Recompense; return; repayment. [Obs.] Shak.
Quit"tance, v. t. To repay; to requite. [Obs.] Shak.
Quit"ter (-tr), n. 1. One who quits.
2. A deliverer. [Obs.] Ainsworth.
Quit"tor (-tr), n. [Perhaps for quitture.] (Far.) A chronic abscess, or fistula of the coronet, in a horse's foot, resulting from inflammation of the tissues investing the coffin bone.
Quit"ture (-tr; 135), n. A discharge; an issue. [Obs.]
To cleanse the quitture from thy wound.
Chapman.
Quiv"er (kwv"r), a. [Akin to AS. cwiferlice anxiously; cf. OD. kuiven, kuiveren. Cf. Quaver.] Nimble; active. [Obs.] " A little quiver fellow." Shak.
Quiv"er, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Quivered (-rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Quivering.] [Cf. Quaver.] To shake or move with slight and tremulous motion; to tremble; to quake; to shudder; to shiver.
The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind.
Shak.
And left the limbs still quivering on the ground.
Addison.
Quiv"er, n. The act or state of quivering; a tremor.
Quiv"er, n. [OF. cuivre, cuevre, coivre, LL. cucurum, fr. OHG. chohhri quiver, receptacle, G. kˆcher quiver; akin to AS. cocor, cocur, cocer, D. koker. Cf. Cocker a high shoe.] A case or sheath for arrows to be carried on the person.
Beside him hung his bow And quiver, with three-bolted thunder stored.
Milton.
Quiv"ered (-rd), a. 1. Furnished with, or carrying, a quiver. "Like a quivered nymph with arrows keen." Milton.
2. Sheathed, as in a quiver. "Whose quills stand quivered at his ear." Pope.
Quiv"er*ing*ly (-r*ng*l), adv. With quivering motion.
||Qui` vive" (k` vv"). [F., fr. qui who + vive, pres. subj. of vivre to ||live.] The challenge of a French sentinel, or patrol; -- used like ||the English challenge: "Who comes there?"
To be on the qui vive, to be on guard; to be watchful and alert, like a sentinel.
Quix*ot"ic (kwks*t"k), a. Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; absurdly chivalric; apt to be deluded. "Feats of quixotic gallantry." Prescott.
Quix*ot"ic*al*ly (-*kal*l), adv. In a quixotic way.
Quix"ot*ism (kwks"t*z'm), n. That form of delusion which leads to extravagant and absurd undertakings or sacrifices in obedience to a morbidly romantic ideal of duty or honor, as illustrated by the exploits of Don Quixote in knight-errantry.
Quix"ot*ry (-r), n. Quixotism; visionary schemes.
Quiz (kwz), n. [It is said that Daly, the manager of a Dublin playhouse, laid a wager that a new word of no meaning should be the common talk and puzzle of the city in twenty-four hours. In consequence of this the letters q u i z were chalked by him on all the walls of Dublin, with an effect that won the wager. Perhaps, however, originally a variant of whiz, and formerly the name of a popular game.] 1. A riddle or obscure question; an enigma; a ridiculous hoax.
2. One who quizzes others; as, he is a great quiz.
3. An odd or absurd fellow. Smart. Thackeray.
4. An exercise, or a course of exercises, conducted as a coaching or as an examination. [Cant, U.S.]
Quiz (kwz), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quizzed (kwzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Quizzing (-zng).] 1. To puzzle; to banter; to chaff or mock with pretended seriousness of discourse; to make sport of, as by obscure questions.
He quizzed unmercifully all the men in the room.
Thackeray.
2. To peer at; to eye suspiciously or mockingly.
3. To instruct in or by a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4. [U.S.]
Quizzing glass, a small eyeglass.
Quiz, v. i. To conduct a quiz. See Quiz, n., 4. [U.S.]
Quiz"zer (-zr), n. One who quizzes; a quiz.
Quiz"zic*al (-z*kal), a. Relating to quizzing; given to quizzing; of the nature of a quiz; farcical; sportive.
-- Quiz"zic*al*ly, adv.
Quiz"zism (-zz'm), n. The act or habit of quizzing.
Quob (kwb), v. i. [Cf. Quaver.] [Written also quop and quab.] To throb; to quiver. [Local & Vulgar]
Quod (kwd), n. [For quad, abbrev. of quadrangle.] A quadrangle or court, as of a prison; hence, a prison. [Slang] "Flogged or whipped in quod." T. Hughes.
Quod, v. Quoth; said. See Quoth. [Obs.]
"Let be," quod he, "it shall not be."
Chaucer.
Quod"dies (kwd"dz), n. pl. Herring taken and cured or smoked near Quoddy Head, Maine, or near the entrance of Passamaquoddy Bay.
||Quod"li*bet (-l*bt), n. [L., what you please.]
1. A nice point; a subtilty; a debatable point.
These are your quodlibets, but no learning.
P. Fletcher.
2. (Mus.) A medley improvised by several performers.
Quod`lib*e*ta"ri*an (- lb**t"r*an), n. One who discusses any subject at pleasure.
Quod`li*bet"ic*al (- l*bt"*kal), a. Not restricted to a particular subject; discussed for curiosity or entertainment. -- Quod`li*bet"ic*al*ly, adv.
Quoif (kwoif or koif), n. & v. t. See Coif. Shak.
Quoif"fure (kwoif"fr or koif"-), n. See Coiffure.
Quoil (kwoil or koil), n. See Coil. [Obs.]
Quoin (kwoin or koin; 277), n. [See Coin, and cf. Coigne.] 1. (Arch.) Originally, a solid exterior angle, as of a building; now, commonly, one of the selected pieces of material by which the corner is marked.
In stone, the quoins consist of blocks larger than those used in the rest of the building, and cut to dimension. In brickwork, quoins consist of groups or masses of brick laid together, and in a certain imitation of quoins of stone.
2. A wedgelike piece of stone, wood, metal, or other material, used for various purposes; as: (a) (Masonry) To support and steady a stone. (b) (Gun.) To support the breech of a cannon. (c) (Print.) To wedge or lock up a form within a chase. (d) (Naut.) To prevent casks from rolling.
Hollow quoin. See under Hollow. - - Quoin post (Canals), the post of a lock gate which abuts against the wall.
Quoit (kwoit or koit), n. [OE. coite; cf. OF. coitier to spur, press, (assumed) LL. coctare, fr. L. coquere, coctum, to cook, burn, vex, harass, E. cook, also W. coeten a quoit.] 1. (a) A flattened ring-shaped piece of iron, to be pitched at a fixed object in play; hence, any heavy flat missile used for the same purpose, as a stone, piece of iron, etc. (b) pl. A game played with quoits. Shak.
2. The discus of the ancients. See Discus.
3. A cromlech. [Prov. Eng.] J. Morley.
Quoit, v. i. To throw quoits; to play at quoits.
To quoit, to run, and steeds and chariots drive.
Dryden.
Quoit, v. t. To throw; to pitch. [Obs. or R.] Shak.
Quoke (kwk), obs. imp. of Quake. Chaucer.
Quoll (kwl), n. (Zoˆl.) A marsupial of Australia (Dasyurus macrurus), about the size of a cat.
Quon"dam (kwn"dm), a. [L., formerly.] Having been formerly; former; sometime. "This is the quondam king." Shak.
Quon"dam, n. A person dismissed or ejected from a position. [R.] "Make them quondams; . . . cast them out of their office." Latimer.
Quook (kwk), imp. of Quake. [Obs.] Spenser.
Quop (kwp), v. i. See Quob.
Quo"rum (kw"rm), n. [L., of whom, gen. pl. of qui who, akin to E. who. See the Note below.] Such a number of the officers or members of any body as is competent by law or constitution to transact business; as, a quorum of the House of Representatives; a constitutional quorum was not present.
The term arose from the Latin words, Quorum aliquem vestrum . . . unum esse volumus (of whom we wish some one of you to be one), which were used in the commission formerly issued to justices of the peace in England, by which commission it was directed that no business of certain kinds should be done without the presence of one or more of certain justices specially designated. Justice of the peace and of the quorum designates a class of justices of the peace in some of the United States.
Quo"ta (kw"t), n. [LL., fr. L. quota (sc. pars), fr. quotus which or what in number, of what number, how many, fr. quot how many, akin to quis, qui, who: cf. It. quota a share. See Who.] A proportional part or share; the share or proportion assigned to each in a division. "Quota of troops and money." Motley.
Quot"a*ble (kwt"*b'l), a. Capable or worthy of being quoted; as, a quotable writer; a quotable sentence.
-- Quot`a*bil"i*ty (-bl"*t), n. Poe.
Quo*ta"tion (kw*t"shn), n. [From Quote.] 1. The act of quoting or citing.
2. That which is quoted or cited; a part of a book or writing named, repeated, or adduced as evidence or illustration. Locke.
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3. (Com.) The naming or publishing of the current price of stocks, bonds, or any commodity; also, the price named.
4. Quota; share. [Obs.]
5. (Print.) A piece of hollow type metal, lower than type, and measuring two or more pica ems in length and breadth, used in the blank spaces at the beginning and end of chapters, etc.
Quotation marks (Print.), two inverted commas placed at the beginning, and two apostrophes at the end, of a passage quoted from an author in his own words.
Quo*ta"tion*ist (kw*t"shn*st), n. One who makes, or is given to making, quotations.
The narrow intellectuals of quotationists.
Milton.
Quote (kwt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Quoting.] [OF. quoter, F. coter to letter, number, to quote, LL. quotare to divide into chapters and verses, fr. L. quotus. See Quota.] [Formerly written also cote.] 1. To cite, as a passage from some author; to name, repeat, or adduce, as a passage from an author or speaker, by way of authority or illustration; as, to quote a passage from Homer.
2. To cite a passage from; to name as the authority for a statement or an opinion; as, to quote Shakespeare.
3. (Com.) To name the current price of.
4. To notice; to observe; to examine. [Obs.] Shak.
5. To set down, as in writing. [Obs.] "He's quoted for a most perfidious slave." Shak.
Syn. -- To cite; name; adduce; repeat. -- Quote, Cite. To cite was originally to call into court as a witness, etc., and hence denotes bringing forward any thing or person as evidence. Quote usually signifies to reproduce another's words; it is also used to indicate an appeal to some one as an authority, without adducing his exact words.
Quote (kwt), n. A note upon an author. [Obs.] Cotgrave.
Quot"er (-r), n. One who quotes the words of another.
Quoth (kwth or kwth), v. t. [AS. cwean, imp. cwÊ, pl. cwdon; akin to OS. quean, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kvea, Goth. qi˛an. √22. Cf. Bequeath.] Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object: as, quoth I, quoth he. "Let me not live, quoth he." Shak.
Quoth"a (-), interj. [For quoth 'a said he, 'a being corrupted from he.] Indeed; forsooth.
To affront the blessed hillside drabs and thieves With mended morals, quotha, -- fine new lives !
Mrs. Browning.
Quo*tid"i*an (kw*td"*an), a. [OE. cotidian, L. quotidianus, fr. quotidie daily; quotus how many + dies day: cf. OF. cotidien, F. quotidien. See Quota, Deity.] Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever.
Quo*tid"i*an (kw*td"*an), n. Anything returning daily; especially (Med.), an intermittent fever or ague which returns every day. Milton.
Quo"tient (kw"shent), n. [F., fr. L. quoties how often, how many times, fr. quot how many. See Quota.]
1. (Arith.) The number resulting from the division of one number by another, and showing how often a less number is contained in a greater; thus, the quotient of twelve divided by four is three.
2. (Higher Alg.) The result of any process inverse to multiplication. See the Note under Multiplication.
Quo*ti"e*ty (kw*t"*t), n. [L. quotus of what number, quot how many.] (Scholastic Philos.) The relation of an object to number. Krauth-Fleming.
Quo"tum (kw"tm), n. [NL., fr. L. quotus of what number. See Quota.] Part or proportion; quota. [R.] "A very small quotum." Max M¸ller.
||Quo` war*ran"to (kw` wr*rn"t). [So called from the Law L. words quo ||warranto (by what authority), in the original Latin form of the writ. ||See Which, and Warrant.] (Law) A writ brought before a proper ||tribunal, to inquire by what warrant a person or a corporation acts, ||or exercises certain powers. Blackstone.
An information in the nature of a quo warranto is now common as a substitute for the writ. Wharton.
Qu*ran" (k*r‰n"), n. See Koran.