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Comprehensive
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quartersaw to saw (a log) lengthwise into quarters and then into boards.
quarter section a unit of area equal to one fourth of a section, one fourth of a square mile, or 160 acres, used in dividing land into square parcels.
quarter sessions an English local court, held quarterly, that has civil and criminal jurisdiction for all but the most serious crimes. [2 definitions]
quarterstaff a hefty, wooden, iron-tipped pole, six to eight feet in length, formerly used as a weapon in England.
quarter tone in music, an interval equal to one half of a semitone.
quartet four musicians or singers who perform together as a group. [3 definitions]
quarto in printing, the size of a page equal to one quarter of a standard whole sheet, or about nine by twelve inches. [3 definitions]
quartz a common, hard, widely distributed mineral that occurs as many glasslike crystalline forms of silicon dioxide.
quartz crystal in electronics, a thin plate or rod that is cut from quartz, ground, polished, and finished in such a way that it vibrates at a specific frequency.
quartzite a metamorphic rock that consists of quartz and hardened sandstone.
quartz lamp a mercury-vapor lamp, enclosed within transparent quartz, that emits ultraviolet rays when an electric current is passed through it.
quasar any of numerous astronomical objects that emit powerful radio waves and have red shifts associated with great distance from earth; quasi-stellar radio source.
quash1 to subdue or suppress forcefully and decisively.
quash2 to declare to be of no effect, esp. in a legal proceeding; set aside; annul.
quasi- to some extent; somewhat.
quasi-stellar radio source see "quasar."
quassia a scarlet-flowered tropical American tree, the wood of which is used in making furniture. [2 definitions]
quaternary consisting of four, or grouped in fours. [4 definitions]
quatrain a group of four lines of verse, esp. one in which every other line rhymes.
quatrefoil a four-lobed leaf or flower, esp. in art. [2 definitions]
quattrocento the fifteenth century in Italian art and literature.