quarter

quar|ter¹ W2S1 [ˈkwo:tə US ˈkwo:rtər] n

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1¦(amount)¦

2¦(part of an hour)¦

3¦(money)¦

4¦(three months)¦

5¦(sport)¦

6¦(part of a city)¦

7¦(home)¦

8¦(college)¦

9¦(moon)¦

10 in/from ... quarters

11 all quarters of the Earth/globe

12 give/receive no quarter

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[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: quartier, from Latin quartarius, from quartus 'fourth']

1.) ¦(AMOUNT)¦

one of four equal parts into which something can be divided

→↑half, third ↑third

a/one quarter (of sth)

▪ a quarter of a mile

▪ roughly one quarter of the city's population

▪ It's about a page and a quarter.

three quarters (of sth)

(=75%)

▪ three quarters of a million pounds

the first/second etc quarter

▪ in the last quarter of the 19th century

▪ Cut the cake into quarters .

2.) ¦(PART OF AN HOUR)¦

a period of 15 minutes

▪ I'll meet you in a quarter of an hour .

▪ She arrived three quarters of an hour (=45 minutes) late.

(a) quarter to (sth) also (a) quarter of (sth)

AmE (=15 minutes before the hour)

▪ It's a quarter of two.

(a) quarter past (sth)

BrE also (a) quarter after (sth)

AmE (=15 minutes after the hour)

▪ I'll meet you at a quarter past ten.

3.) ¦(MONEY)¦

a coin used in the US and Canada worth 25 cents

4.) ¦(THREE MONTHS)¦

a period of three months, used especially when discussing business and financial matters

the first/second/third/fourth quarter

▪ The company's profits rose by 11% in the first quarter of the year.

▪ Our database is updated every quarter.

→↑quarterly

5.) ¦(SPORT)¦

one of the four equal periods of time into which games of some sports are divided

the first/second/third/fourth quarter

▪ The home side took the lead in the second quarter.

6.) ¦(PART OF A CITY)¦ [usually singular]

an area of a town

▪ I found a small flat in the student quarter.

▪ Granada's ancient Arab quarter

▪ a historic quarter of the city

7.) ¦(HOME)¦

quarters [plural]

the rooms that are given to someone to live in as part of their job, especially servants or soldiers

▪ The top floor provided living quarters for the kitchen staff.

▪ Most of the officers live in married quarters (=houses where soldiers live with their wives) .

8.) ¦(COLLEGE)¦

AmE one of the four periods into which a year at school or college is divided, continuing for 10 to 12 weeks

→↑semester

▪ What classes are you taking this quarter?

9.) ¦(MOON)¦

the period of time twice a month when you can see a quarter of the moon's surface

10.) in/from ... quarters

among or from different groups of people

▪ Offers of financial help came from several quarters.

▪ Doubts were expressed in many quarters.

11.) all quarters of the Earth/globe

literary everywhere in the world

12.) give/receive no quarter

literary if someone gives no quarter, they do not show any pity or gentleness when dealing with someone, especially an enemy

▪ It was a fight to the death, with no quarter given.

→at close quarters at ↑close² (20)

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HINT sense 1

Say a quarter of something, not 'quarter of' something.

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quarter ²

quarter² v [T]

1.) to cut or divide something into four parts

→↑halve

▪ Quarter the tomatoes and place them round the dish.

2.) [usually passive] formal

to provide someone with a place to sleep and eat, especially soldiers

▪ Our troops were quartered in Boston until June.