1. The number four, or set of four, a file of four soldiers. (Acts xii. 4.)

2. A word of four syllables, a quadrisyllable.

II. Math. The metrographic relation existing between any two right lines, having definite lengths and directions in space, depending upon four irreducible geometrical elements. Discovered and developed by Sir W. Hamilton.

"A quaternion is the quotient of two vectors, or of two directed right lines in space, considered as depending on a system of four geometrical elements, and as expressible by an alphabetical symbol of quadrinomial form."-Sir W. Hamilton.

quạ tẽr-ni-ôn, v. t. [ QUATERNION, subst.] To divide into quaternions, files, or companies.

"The angels themselves, in whom no disorder is feared, are distinguish'd and quaternion'd into their celestial princedoms and satrapies."-Milton: Reason of Ch. Government, bk. ii. (App.)

*qua-ter-ni-ty, *qua-ter-ni-tie, s. [Fr. quaternité, from Lat. quaternitas, from quaterni= four each.] The condition or quality of making up the number four.

"Their whole scale was not a trinity but a quaternity, or four ranks and degrees of beings."-Cudworth: Intell. System, p. 587.

qua -ter-on, s. [QUADROON.] qua-tor-zain (qu as k), s. [Fr. quatorze=fourteen.] A poem or stanza of fourteen lines; a sonnet.

"Put out your rushlights, you poets and rhymers! and bequeath your crazed quatorzains to the chandlers."Nashe, in English Garner, i. 499.

qua-torze (qu as k), s. [Fr. fourteen.] In piquet, the four aces, kings, queens, knaves, or tens; so called because each quatorze counts fourteen points.

"He scores ten for carte blanche, twenty-eight for quatorzes."-Field, Jan. 23, 1886.

quat-rain (or as ka-trân), s. [Fr., from quatre four.] A stanza of four lines rhyming alternately. "Each of his predictions was couched in the form of a

poetical quatrain."-London Daily Telegraph. qua-tre, a. (QUATER.]

quatrefoil (as qua ter-foil or ka -ter-foil), qua-ter-foil, quãr -ter-f6ìl, s. [French quatre feuille, from quatre (Latin quatuor) four, and feuille (Latin folium) a leaf.]

1. Arch.: A piercing or panel divided by cusps or foliations into four leaves, or more correctly the leaf-shaped figure formed by the cusps. It is supposed to represent the four

leaves of a cruciform plant. The

name is also given to flowers and leaves of a similar form carved as ornaments on moldings, &c. It differs from the cinquefoil only in the number of cusps.

Quatrefoil.

(From the tomb of King John. Worcester Cathe dral.)

2. Her.: Four-leaved grass; a frequent bearing in coat-armor. *quat-ri-ble, v. i. [Fr. quatre=four.] Music: To descant by singing fourths on a plain Bong. (Cf. QUINIBLE.)

quat rō-děç-I-mā ́-nī, subst. pl. [QUARTODECIMANI.]

fate, făt, färe, amidst.

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quat -tro-çĕnt-ist, s. & a. [Eng., &c., quattroçent-Ist, cent(o); -ist.]

A. As subst.: A painter of the Quattrocento school.

"I began to trace the purity of work in the quattrocentists."-Contemp. Review, April, 1886, p. 476.

B. As adj.: Belonging to, or characteristic of the Italian painters of the fourteenth century.

"The quattrocentist work became dearer to me."-Contemp. Review, April, 1886, p. 377.

quat-tro-cen-to (c as ch), s. or a. [Ital.. lit. = four hundredth, but used for fourteen hundredth.]

Art: A term applied to the characteristic style of the artists who practiced in the fourteenth century; it was hard, rigid, and peculiar in color as well as in form and pose. that progressive period of art, which, commencing It was the intermediate stage of with Fra Angelico, reached excellence with Leonardo da Vinci. (Fairholt.)

*quāve, *quav-yn, v. i. [Cf. Low Ger. quabbeln to tremble; Dan. dial. kveppa-to be shaken.] To shake, to tremble, to be shaken. "Understande ye how the erthe quareth and shaketh."-Carton: Mirror of the World, bk. ii., ch. xxii. *quave, s. [QUAVE, v.] A shaking, a trembling. *quave -mïre, s. [Eng. quave, v., and mire.] A quagmire, a bog.

"Aratus would not suffer the Achaians to follow them, because of bogs and quavemires."— North: Plutarch, p. 670. quã -vẽr, v. i.& t. [Eng. quav(e); freq. suff. -er.] A. Intransitive:

1. To shake, to tremble, to vibrate; to have a tremulous motion.

2. To shake in vocal utterance: to sing or utter sounds with rapid vibrations; to sing with tremulous modulations of voice; to produce a shake on a musical instrument.

"Quavering to the country swains." Dryden: Art of Poetry, ii. B. Trans.: To utter with rapid vibrations or with a tremulous sound.

"Not a nymph the quaver'd notes approve." Jones: Arcadia.

ing. (Cowper.) To quaver away: To dispel by singing or play

quả-vẽr, s. [QUAVER, v.]

I. Ord. Lang.: A quavering motion.
"And with blithe quavers fans the gath'ring breeze."
Brooke: Universal Beauty, v.
II. Music:

1. A shake or rapid vibration of the voice; a shake on an instrument of music. (Gay: Epistle iii.) 2. A note and measure of time, equal to half a crochet or the eighth of a semibreve.

quã -ver-ēr, s. [Eng. quaver, v.; -er.] One who quavers; a warbler.

vipera, shortened in French to quavivre, and after qua-viv-er, s. [Representing an Italian acqua further to vivre or vive.] [WYVERN.] The weever (q. v.).

"A little fish in the form of a scorpion, and of the size of the fish quaviver."-Bailey: Erasmus' Colloquies, p. 393. For the full history of the word see Notes and Queries, (6th Ser.), ix. 390.

quay (as kë), *kay, *keie, tkey, *keye, s. [O. Fr. quay (Fr. quai), of Celtic origin from Bret, kaé = an inclosure; Welsh cae.] A landing-place; a wharf projecting into a stream, harbor, or basin, to which vessels are moored for the purpose of receiving and delivering freight.

"What a concourse swarms on yonder quay." Gray: Epistle vi.

quay-berth, s. A loading or discharging berth for a ship in a public dock.

quay (as kē), v. t. [QUAY, s.] To furnish with

quays.

quayage, tkeyage (both as ke-ig), s. [Eng. quay; -age.]

1. The duty or toll paid for the use of a quay; quay dues; wharfage.

2. Berths on a quay for loading or discharging ships.

*quayd, pa. par. or a. [QUAID.]

quéaçh'

Queachie bushes to defende Him from Apollo's sight."

Turberville: All Things hath Release, &c. (2), a. [Eng. queach, v.; -y.] Shakboggy or marshy ground. ing, soft; yielding or giving way under the foot, as

"Many of them fell into those deep bogs and queachy places."-Knolles: Hist. Turkes, p. 282.

quean, *queane, *quen, *quene, *queene, s. [The same word as QUEEN, 8.]

1. A worthless woman; a slut, a hussy, a strumpet. 2. In the eighteenth century in England, and still in Scotland, used for a young or unmarried woman, without any idea of disrespect or contempt.

"Here's to the flaunting extravagant quean." Sheridan: School for Scandal, iii. 3. quĕaş-1-ly, adv. [Eng. queasy; -ly.] In a queasy or squeamish manner; with squeamishness, squeamishly.

II. Figuratively:

1. Fastidious, nice, squeamish.

2. Requiring to be handled delicately; delicate, ticklish.

*queaz-en, v. t. [QUEASY.] To make queasy; to sicken. (Nashe: Lenten Stuffe.) Que-běc', s. [See def.]

Geog.: A city and also a province in Canada.
Quebec-oak, s.

Bot.: Quercus alba. [QUERCUS.]
Quebec-marmot, s.

Zool.: Arctomys monax, the Woodchuck (q. v.). que-bra-chō, s. [Sp.]

Bot.: Aspidosperma quebracho, a Chilian apocynaceous tree; its bark is used as a febrifuge and in lung or bronchial diseases. It is called also white quebracho, to distinguish it from the red guebracho, a Mexican tree (Loxopterygium lorentzii). The bark of the latter is said to have similar properties. quěb-rith, s. [O. Fr., quebrit, quibrith, Arabic kibrit.]

Alchemy: An old name for Sulphur.

quêch', *queck, v. i. [QUEACH, v.] To move. to shrink, to wince.

*qued, *quede, *quead, *queyd, *kuead, a. & s. [O. Fris. quad; Dut. & Low Ger. kwaad; Scotch quaid.]

A. As adj.: Bad, wicked.

B. Assubstantive:

marîne; gō, pot,

*queme-ful, *quem-full, adj. [English queme; quercetin with hydrochloric acid, filtering, and

-full.

1. Pleasing. (Wycliffe: Leviticus xix.) 2. Friendly, gracious. "God

Job xxxiii. 26.

schal be quemeful to hym."-Wyelife,

*quen, *quene, adv. or conj. [WHEN.] quench, *quenche, *quench-en, *quench-yn (pa. t. *queint, *queynt, *queynte, quenched), v. t. &i. [A. S. cwencan (in comp. ácwencan), from cwincan to be put out, to be extinguished; Old Fris. kwinka.]

A. Transitive:

1. To extinguish: to put out.

"Anon was the fuyr quenched."-Maundeville, p. 70. 2. To allay, to extinguish, to slake.

3. To suppress, to subdue, to repress, to check, to stifle.

adding to the filtrate aqueous ammonia. It is slightly soluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, hydrochloric acid, and excess of ammonia. quer-çět-ic, a. [Eng. quercet (in); -ic.] Con tained in or derived from quercetin (q. v.). quercetic-acid, s.

Chem.: C15H1007, or C21H14010. Formed by the action of boiling potash on quercetin. It crystallizes in silky needles, which effloresce in a warm atmosphere, is sparingly soluble in cold, easily in boiling water, in alcohol, and in ether. Its aqueous solution turns yellow on exposure to the air, and is colored dark blue by ferric chloride.

quer-çe-tin, s. [Altered from quercitrin.] Chem.: C27H18012. A yellow, crystallizable body, produced by the action of dilute mineral acids on quercitrin, C33H30017+H2O = C27H18O12+C&H1406. It is neutral, inodorous, melts about 251'; is slightly soluble in boiling water, easily in weak alcohol and *4. To lay or place in water. [QUENCHING, C. 2.] in ether. Nitrate of silver and cupric oxide are *B. Intransitive: readily reduced by it.

"Now helpe God to quenchen al thir sorwe." Chaucer: Troilus and Cresseide, 1,009.

1. To be extinguished; to go out, as fire. 2. To lose zeal; to become cool.

"Dost thou think, in time

She will not quench!" Shakesp.: Cymbeline, 1. 5. *quench, s. [QUENCH, v.] Extinction.

"None came

To give it quench." *quench-coal, 8. That which quenches or extinguishes fire; hence, fig., one who is cold or heartless.

Chapman: Homer's Iliad, xix. 363.

"You are quench-coal; no sparkle of grace can kindle apon your cold hearth."-Rogers.

quench-a-ble, adj. [English quench; able.] Capable of being quenched.

quench-er, s. [Eng. quench; -er.] One who or that which quenches or extinguishes; colloquially, a draught which allays thirst. "A modest quencher."-Diokens: Old Curiosity Shop, ch.

XXXV.

quench-Ing, *quench-inge, pr. par., a. & 8. [QUENCH, V.]

A. & B. As pr. par. & particip. adj.: (See the verb.)

C. As substantive:

ing.

1. Ord. Lang.: The act of extinguishing or allay 2. Metall.: The process of producing a hard scale or crust upon the surface of molten metal in a crucible or cistern, for the purpose of removing it in successive rondles or discs, instead of allowing it to congeal into a solid mass.

quench -less, *quench-les, a. [Eng. quench; -less.] That cannot be quenched, abated, or repressed; inextinguishable, unquenchable.

quench-less-ly, adv. [Eng. quenchless; ly.] In a quenchless or unquenchable manner or degree. quench-less-ness, s. [Eng. quenchless; -ness.] The quality or state of being quenchless; unquenchableness.

*quene, s. [QUEEN, 8.] que-nelle', s. [Fr.] Cookery: A kind of forcemeat; sometimes poached and used as a dish by itself; at other times used for garnishing.

quenouille (as ken-o'-6), s. [Fr. a distaff.]

(See compound.)

quenouille-training, s.

Hort.: A mode of training trees or shrubs in a conical form, with their branches bent downward, so that they resemble a distaff.

quer-æs-çit-rin, s. [Lat. quer(cus) = an oak; OPS(culus): = the Italian oak; Eng. citr (on), and suff. -in.]

Chemist.: C41H46C25- A substance extracted by alcohol from the leaves of the chestnut. It forms fine, yellow, crystalline grains of the size of poppy seeds, and is resolved by muriatic acid into quercetin and glucose, formulæ, C4H6O25+3H2O=

C23H16010+3C6H12O6.

Quenouille-training.

quer çet-a-mide, s. [English quercet (in), and amide.]

Chem. An amorphous, orange-yellow powder, obtained by treating an ammoniacal solution of

quer-çi-mĕr-ic, a. [Lat. quercus an oak: Gr. meros a part, and Eng. suff. ic.] Derived from or containing quercetic acid. quercimeric-acid, s.

Chem.: C8H8O6-CsH6O3H2O. An acid produced by fusing quercetic acid with potash. It forms small, colorless, prismatic crystals, having an acid reaction and an astringent taste, and is very soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. Its aqueous solution gives a fine blue color with ferric chloride. quer-çin, subst. [Latin querc (us)=an oak; Eng. suff. -in.] [QUERCITE.]

adj. suff. -ineæ.] quer-çin -ě-æ, s. pl. [Latin querc (us); fem. pl.

Botany: A sub-order of Cupulifere or Corylace. Male flowers with four to ten sepals, no corolla, flowers one to three, in an involucre of many bracsimple filaments, and connate anther-cells. Female teoles, which enlarges in fruit. Ovary three to seven celled; ovules two in each cell; fruit in a cupule. Genera: Quercus and Fagus. quer-çi-tǎn'-nic, a. [Lat. querc (us) = an oak; connect., and Eng. tannic.] Derived from or containing tannic acid.

quercitannic-acid, s.

in oak-galls. It somewhat resembles gallotannic Chem.: An acid of unknown composition, found acid, but is not converted into pyrogallic acid by dry distillation. Sulphuric acid precipitates it in red flocks.

quer-çite, s. [Latin querc(us)=an oak; Eng. suff. -ite.]

Chem.: C6H12O5. Quercin. Quercitol. Sugar of acorns. A saccharine substance obtained from the aqueous extract of bruised acorns. It crystallizes in transparent, monoclinic prisms, which are permanent in the air; melts at 235, and is soluble in water and hot dilute alcohol. Hot nitric acid converts it into oxalic acid; but a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids changes it into a white amorphous resin, nitroquercite, which is insoluble in water, but soluble in hot alcohol.

quer'-çi-tin, s. [QUERCITRIN.]

Chem. A yellow crystalline substance, found

widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom, as in the barks and leaves of various trees, but originally obtained from quercitrin. Called also meletin. quer-çi-tol, s. [Eng. quercit(e); ol.] [QUERCITE.]

quer-çit-rin, s. [Eng. quercitr(on); -in.] Chem.: C33H30017. A glucoside found in the bark of Quercus tinctoria, and extracted by boiling with water. It is yellow and crystallizable, and yields, when boiled with dilute acids. quercetin and isodulcite. In solution it is neutral, bitter, and inodorous, and strikes a dark green color with ferric chloride. When dehydrated, it melts at 160° to a dark yellow rosin.

quer-çit-ron, s. [Lat. quer(cus) = an oak, and Eng. citron.]

Chem.: A yellow dye stuff, consisting of the shavings of the bark of Quercus tinctoria. Alum or stannic chloride is employed as a mordant. A finer yellow is said to be obtained when the decoction of the bark is previously boiled with dilute hydrochloric acid, owing probably to the liberation of quercetin. In this country the bark is used for tanning.

quer-cus, s. [Lat.=an oak.]

1. Bot.: Oak; the typical genus of the sub-order Quercine (q. v.). Male catkins slender. Styles three, short. From the northern hemisphere; specios about 250. About fifty species are American. [OAK.] Quercus suber is the Cork-tres, Q. infectoria is the Gall-oak (q. v.), Q. ilex, the Holly-oak (q. v.).

quern

Q. agilops, in the Levant, produces the Valonia acorn imported for dyeing purposes. The leaves of Q. mannifera, in Kurdistan, secrete a saccharine matter; the acorns of the Spanish Q. gramunia are sweet, and are eaten. The leaves of Q.falcata are astringent, and are used in gangrene. Of American species Q. alba, the White or Quebec-oak, and Q. virens, or Live-oak, yield excellent timber for shipbuilding. From thirty to forty species exist in the hills and mountains of India; some furnish galls, some excellent timber. The bark of many is used for tanning and in medicine. The acorns also pos sess astringent properties.

2. Palæobot.: Found in the Cretaceous rocks of Aix-la-Chapelle and of this country, and in the Middle Eocene of Bournemouth, England.

*quer-ele,*que-re-la, s. [Lat. querela a complaint; queror to complain; Fr. querelle.] [QUARREL (1), 8.] A complaint to a court.

quër-ent (1), s. [Lat. querens, pr. par. of queror =to complain.] A complainant, a plaintiff. quër-ent (2), 8. [Lat. quærens, pr. par. of quæro to seek, to inquire.] One who inquires; an inquirer.

que-rî que re' (qu as k), phr. [Hebrew qeri, gere.

Heb. Lit.: This expression, which is so frequently found in the margins and foot-notes of both the MSS. and printed editions of the Hebrew Bible, is either the imperative or participle passive, and signifies read (lege), or it is read (from qará, to read). It is the technical expression for the various reading which the ancient redactors of the text bid us substitute for the one which occupies or is written in the text, i. e., Kethib. The word in the text for which there is a variant has not only the vowelpoints which belong to the marginal reading, but a small circle or asterisk placed over it, which directs to the margin, where the emendation is given. The list of queris, which is one of the most the Massorah (q. v.), is given in The Massorah (ed. ancient and most important constituent parts of Ginsburg), ii. 55-93.

quer-1-mo-nl-ous, adj. [Latin querimonia-a complaint, from queror to complain.] Complaining, querulous; apt to complain; discontented.

quĕr-l-mo-nl-ous-ly, adv. [Eng. querimonious; ly.] In a querimonious or querulous manner; querulously.

"Most querimoniously confessing, That I of late have been compressing." Denham: A Dialogue. monious; -ness.) The quality or state of being quĕr-I-mo-nl-ous-ness, s. [English queriquerimonious; a disposition to complain at trifles; querulousness.

IMONIOUS.] A complaint, a complaining. *quer-1-mon- quer-i-mon-ye, subst. [QUER

"The kyng muche greued and troubled with hys broth

er's dayly querimonye."-Hall: Edward IV. (an. 17). quer-ist, subst. [Eng. quer(y); -ist.] One who inquires or asks questions; an inquirer.

"What is there in this at all repugnant to what the querist maintains?"-Waterland: Works, i. 13.

*quer-is-tor (1), 8. [QUERIST.] A questioner. (Bale: Select Works, p. 199.)

*quer-is-tor (2), s. [CHORISTER.]

querk, *quirk -en, v. t. [Icel. kverk, kverkar= the throat; O.Sw. qvarka to throttle.] To choke, to throttle, to stifle, to suffocate.

from queri, quirl a twirling stick.], [TWIRL.] To querl, v. t. [German querlen, quirlen to twirl, twirl; to turn or wind round; to coil.

quern, querne, s. [A. S. cweorn, cwyrn; cogn. with Dut. kweern; Icel. kvern; Dan. quærn; Sw. quarn; Goth. kwairnus. From the same root as corn and churn.] A mill; especially a hand-mill for grinding corn, used before the invention of water

or wind-mills. It consisted of two circular stones, the lower of which was slightly dished, and the upper one was pierced in the center, and revolved on a wooden or metal pin inserted in the lower. The grain was dropped with one hand into the central opening, while with the other the upper stone was revolved by means of a stick inserted in a small opening or hole near the edge.

Quern.

quern-staff

quern-staff, *querne-staffe, s. The stick by mens of which the upper stone of the quern was revolved.

quern-stone, s. One of the stones of a quern. quer-nal, a. [QUERNALES.] Of or belonging to the Quernales. ~(Lindley.)

quer-nā -lēş, s. pl. [Latin quern(us)=oaken; masc, or fem. pl. adj. suff. -ales.]

Bot.: The Quernal Alliance; an alliance of Diclinous Exogens. The staminiferous flowers amentaceous and monochlamydeous, fruit inferior, embryo amygdaloid, without albumen. Orders Corylaces and Juglandaceae (q. v.).

qû ĕr-pô, *qû-îr'-põ (q as k), s. [CUERPO.] quer-quěd -u-la, s. [Lat., from Gr. kirkouris= a kind of duck (Varr.: de Ling. Lat., ed. Mueller, v. 13, $79); Fr. *cercelle, sarcelle.]

Ornith.: A cosmopolitan genus of Anatine, with seventeen species. Bill as long as head, hooked and narrow wings with second quill longest,secondaries long and sharp.

querque-dule, s. (QUERQUEDULA.] ▲ book name for the genus Querquedula.

*quer-ry, s. [Fr. écuyer.] A groom, an equerry (q. v.).

*quĕr-p-lā -tion, s. [Lat. querulus=querulous (q. v.).] Complaint.

"Will not their mournings, menaces, querulations stir your hearts?"-Adams: Works, i. 340.

*quĕr-u-len-tial (ti as sh), a. [QUERULOUS.] Querulous, querimonious; apt to complain. "Walpole has by nature a propensity, and by constitution a plea, for being captions and querulential.”—Cumberland: Memoirs, i. 22.

quer u-lous, a. [Lat. querulus, from queror= to complain.] [QUARREL (1), 8. QUARRELOUS. J 1. Quarrelsome; given or inclined to quarreling, 2. Complaining, querimonious; given or inclined to complaining or murmuring at trifles; murmuring, discontented, dissatisfied.

"Portland was an unreasonable and querulous friend." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xxiii.

3. Expressing, or of the nature of complaint; as, a querulous tone of voice.

quĕr-u-lous-ly, adv. (Eng. querulous; -ly.] In a querulous manner; querimoniously.

quĕr-u-loŭs-ness, s. [Eng. querulous; -ness.] The quality or state of being querulous; a querulous or discontented disposition; querimoniousness. "Stubbornness, captiousness, querulousness."-Water land: Works, ix. 186.

quër -, *quer-e, *quer-ie, subst. [For quære (q. v.).]

1. A question; a point to be answered or solved. (Frequently abbreviated to qu. or qy.)

"The query that I would propose to you... is this." -Sharp: Sermons, vol. vi., ser. 9.

2. The mark or sign of interrogation (1), used to indicate that the sentence to which it is appended contains a question; also used to express a doubt. 3. Print.: A sign (7) or note on the margin of a proof made by the reader to draw the attention of the author or editor to a doubtful passage. quër-, v. i. & t. [QUERY, 8.]

A. Intransitive:

1. To ask a question or questions.

"Each prompt to query, answer, and debate." Pope: Dunciad, ii. 381.

2. To express doubt.

B. Transitive:

1. To seek by questioning; to endeavor to ascertain by inquiry; as, to query a motive.

2. To examine by questions, to question. 3. To express doubt concerning; to express a desire to examine into the truth or correctness of; to mark with a query.

quê săl, s. [Native name.] Ornith. The Long-tailed Trogon, Pharomacros mocinno. Found in Central America. [TROGON.] quest (1), *queste, s. [O. Fr. queste (Fr. quête), from Lat. quasita, fem. sing. of quæsitus, pa. par. of quæro to seek; Sp. questa, Ital. chiesta.] 1. The act of seeking; search.

"The excisemen reluctantly gave up their quest."-St. James' Gazette, Sept. 23, 1885.

2. Pursuit, following after, suit.

"Cease your quest of love."-Shakesp.: Lear, i. 1. #3 In old romances, the expedition or venture upon which a knight was engaged, and which he was bound to fulfill.

*4. A body of searchers; searchers collectively. *5. Inquiry, examination.

*6. Request, desire, solicitation, demand, prayer. 7. An abbreviation of inquest; a jury of inquest; a sworn body of examiners.

boll, boy; pout, jowl; cat,
-tian
-cian,

cell,

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*quest-house, s. The chief watch-house of an Anglican parish, generally adjoining a church, where quests concerning misdemeanors and annoyances were held.

quest (2), *queēst, s. [QUIST.]

quest (3), subst. [See def.] An abbreviation of bequest (q. v.).

*quest-word, s. A bequeathment. quěst (1), v. i. & t. [QUEST (1), s.] A. Intransitive:

1. To go in search, to search, to seek. 2. To go begging.

B. Trans.: To seek for or after, to inquire into, to examine.

They quest annihilation's monstrous theme." Byrom: Enthusiasm. quěst (2), v. i. [Etym. doubtful.] To give tongue, as a hound on the trail.

"To bay or quest as a dog."-Florio, p. 1. *quest -ant, s. [O. Fr., pr. par. of quester: Fr. quetant.] A secker of any object, a candidate, a competitor, an aspirant.

"The bravest questant shrinks." Shakesp.: All's Well that Ends Well, ii. 1. *quest-er, s. [Eng. quest (1), v.; -er.]

1. One who seeks or searches; a seeker, a searcher.

2. A dog employed to find game, or to search out a trail.

"The quester only to the wood they loose, Who silently the tainted trace pursues." Rowe: Lucan; Pharsalia, iv. quest -ion (i as y), *ques-ti-oun, s. [Fr. question, from Lat. quaestionem, accus. of quæstio-a seeking, a question, from quositus, pa. par. of quæro to seek; Sp. cuestion; Ital. questione, quis tione.] [QUEST (1), 8.]

I. Ordinary Language:

questman

purpose of avoiding, if the resolution is in the negative, the putting of this question. The motion is in the form, That the question be now put," and the mover and seconder vote against it.

quest -ion (1 as y), v. i. & t. [QUESTION, 8.] A. Intransitive:

1. To ask a question or questions; to inquire; to make inquiries.

"Let me question more in particular."-Shakesp.: Hamlet, ii. 2. *2. To debate, to reason, to consider, to argue. "Question no further of the case."

Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt. I., ii. 1. 3. To doubt, to dispute.

"Who questions but there was a possibility in the thing?"-Stillingfleet: Sermons, vol. i., ser. 1. *4. To talk, to converse.

"Stay not to question, for the watch is coming." Shakesp.: Romeo and Juliet, v. 8. B. Transitive:

quire into or after. 1. To ask a question or questions about; to in

"To question our delay."—Shakesp.: Henry V., ii. 4. 2. To ask a question or questions of; to interrogate; to examine by question; to catechise. 3. To call in question; to challenge. "Whether it be so or not, it may be questioned."—Fryth: Works, p. 33.

in; to treat as unreliable. 4. To doubt, to distrust; to have no confidence

"His counsel derided, his prudence questioned, and his person despised."-South: Sermons. *5. To speak to; to converse with. "It would be spoke to." 'Question it.'" ques'-tion-a-bil-I-ty, s. [Eng. questionable; -ity.] That position, state, or condition which renders anything questionable.

putting of questions or inquiries. 1. An examination; the act of questioning; the able.]

"With questions eche one of tho He tempteth ofte." Gower: C. A., iv. 2. That which is asked in questioning; a query, an inquiry.

3. Specif.: The point or motion submitted to a
legislative or other assembly for decision by voting;
the act of submitting a motion to the vote.
"The majority became clamorous for the question.”—
Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xvi.

4. Inquiry, discussion, disquisition.
"The unquiet time
Did push it out of further question."
Shakesp.: Henry V., i. 1.
*5. Trial, examination; judicial trial or inquiry.

"He that was in question for the robbery?"
Shakesp.: Henry IV., Pt. II., i. 2.

6. Examination by torture; the application of torture to persons charged with crimes or offenses, in order to extort confession.

son to the rack or question."-Ayliffe: Parergon.
"Such a presumption is only sufficient to put the per-

Shakesp.: Hamlet, i. 1.

ques -tion-a-ble (i as y), a. [English question; +1. Capable of being questioned, spoken to, or inquired of; propitious to, or inviting conversation; affable. "Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, That I will speak to thee."

Shakesp.: Hamlet, i. 4. 2. Open to question, doubt, or suspicion; suspicious, doubtful, disputable; liable to question or doubt.

quest'-ion-a-ble-ness (i as y), subst. [English questionable; -ness.] The quality or state of being questionable, doubtful, or suspicious.

quest -ion-a-blỹ (1 as y), adv. [Eng. questionab(le); -ly.] In a questionable manner: in a doubtfully. manner open to question, doubt, or suspicion;

quěst-lồn-ar-j, a. & &. [Eng. question; -ary.] A. As adjective:

1. Questioning, inquiring, asking questions. "Sometimes I return only Yes or No to questionary epistles of half a yard long."-Pope to Swift, Aug. 17, 1736. 2. Making trial or examination; testing; of the

7. A subject of dispute or debate; a point of nature of a test. doubt or difficulty.

B. As subst.: An itinerant peddler of indulgences

"The question had ceased to be a question between the or relics. [QUESTA.] two dynasties."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xvi.

8. The subject or matter of inquiry, examination,
or discussion; the point or matter under discussion
or inquiry; the theme of inquiry; the point at
issue; as, His remarks are foreign to the question.
9. Doubt, controversy, dispute.
*10. Conversation, speech, talk.

"I'll stay no longer question."
Shakesp.: Merchant of Venice, iv. 1.

established as a conclusion, stated by way of inter-
II. Logic: A proposition, or that which is to be
rogation.

(1) Question! An exclamation used in parliamentary assemblies to call a speaker's attention to the fact that he is wandering from the question or Also used to express doubt as to the correctness of subject under discussion, and to recall it to him. a statement made by a speaker.

(2) To beg the question: [BEG, II. 1.]. (3) In question: In debate, under discussion; in the course of inquiry, examination, or discussion. (4) To call in question: [CALL (1), v., D. 10.] (5) Out of question: Doubtless, unquestionably. "But out of question 'tis Maria's hand." Shakesp.: Twelfth Night, v. (6) Out of the question: Not to be thought of; not deserving of thought er consideration.

(7) Leading question: [LEADING.]

quest -ion-er (i as y), s. [Eng. question; -er.] One who questions; one who asks questions; an interrogator.

"A questioner in matters of the king's prerogative."— Wotton: Remains, p. 421.

quěst -ion-lǹg (i as y), pr. par. or a. [QUESTION, v.]

quest-ion-Ing-lý (l as y), ade. [Eng. question ing;ly.] lu a questioning manner; by way of question.

"These ought to do,' I said to my friend questioningly."-London Morning Advertiser.

*quest-ion-ist, *quest-ion-iste (i as y), subst. [Eng. question; -ist.].

1. A questioner, an inquirer.

2. A candidate for honors or degrees at the English universities.

tquěst-ion-less (i as y), a. & adv. [Eng. question; -less.]

A. As adj.: Without question; unquestioning. B. As adv.: Not to be questioned; unquestion ably; beyond all question or doubt.

"Questionless Nature's instinct works in them a quicker instinct."-Swan: Spec. Mundi, ch. viii., § 1. *quest-man, s. [Eng. quest (1), s., and man.] 1. One who had power to make quests or legal inquiries:

(1) A person chosen to inquire into abuses and misdemeanors, especially with regard to weights and measures.

(8) Previous question: In parliamentary practice, the question whether a vote shall by come to on the main issue or no, brought forward before the main or real question is put by the speaker, and for the chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; sin, aş; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = £ -tious, -cious, -sious shus.

questmonger

(2) A collector of parish rates. (Eng.). (3) A person chosen annually to assist the churchwardens. (Eng.)

(4) A juryman; one impaneled on a quest.

2. One who laid informations and started petty lawsuits; a public informer.

*quest -môn-gèr, subst. [Eng quest (1), s., and monger.] The same as QUESTMAN (q. v.).

"Sute was made to the questmongers, for it was a rich man that had done the act."-Latimer: Fourth Sermon on the Lord's Prayer.

quês -tor, quæs -tor, s. [Lat.]

1. Rom. Antiq.: The title of certain magistrates at Rome who had superintendence of the public treasury, the receipt of taxes, tribute, payment of moneys on account of the public service, &e. They were originally two in number, and were at first chosen from the patricians exclusively; but in B. C. 421, when the number was increased to four, it was arranged that, for the future, the office should be open to patricians and plebeians alike. The number was subsequently in creased to eight, and eventually by Julius Cæsar to forty.

2. Church Hist.: Persons appointed by the Popes and Bishops to announce the indulgences for those who joined or supported the Crusades, or contributed to the building of churches and religious houses, and to collect the alms given for these objects.

ques -tor-ship, quæs -tõr-ship, subst. [Eng. questor; ship.] The office of a questor; the term during which a questor held office. The questorship was the lowest of the great offices of state, and was regarded as the first step in the upward progress toward the Consulship. It was held for one year. quest-rist, s. [Eng. quester; ist.] [QUEST (1), s.] One who goes in search of another; a seeker. "Six and thirty of his knights,

Hot questrists after him, met him at the gate." Shakesp.: Lear, iii. 7. tques -tu-ar-, *quæs -tu-ar-y, a. & s. [Lat. quæstuarius, from quæstus = gain, profit, from quæro (pa. par. quæsitus) = to seek.]

A. As adj.: Studious of gain or profit. +B. As subst.: One employed to collect profits. [QUESTOR, 2.]

Gerson and Dominicus à Soto are ashamed of these prodigious indulgences, and suppose that the pope's qurstuaries did procure them."-Jeremy Taylor: Dissuasive against Popery, ch. ii., § 3.

quest-u-ous, a. [Lat. quæstuosus, from quæstus =gain.] Greedy of gain; avaricious.

"With a questuous and mercenary ostentation."- 8. Lennard: Of Wisdome, bk. i., ch. xxxix., § 3.

ques -tus, s. [Lat. quæstus=gain.]

Law: Land which does not descend by hereditary right, but is acquired by one's own labor and industry.

quêy, quoy, queock, quoyach, s. [Icel. kviga; Sw. quiga a quey.] A young cow or heifer; a cow that has not yet had a calf. (Scotch.)

qui -a ĕmp-tör -eş (p silent), phr. [Lat. =bocause, or wherefore, buyers.]

Old Eng. Law: A statute, 18 Edward I., 1, c. 1, passed in 1290, to prevent the creation of new manors to the prejudice of the superior lords.

quib, s. [A variant of quip (q. v.).] A quip, a sarcasm; a bitter taunt; a gibe.

quibble, s. [A dimin. from quib (q. v.).] 1. A starting or turning away from the point in question or from the plain truth; an evasion, an equivocation, a prevarication, a shifting.

fate, făt, färe, amidst, whăt, fâll,

3328

2. A play upon words; a pun; a low conceit.
"We old men have our crotchets, our conundrums,
Our figures, quirks, and quibbles."

Barry: Ram Alley, iii. 1. quib'-ble, v. i. [QUIBBLE, 8.]

truth by artifice, equivocation, or prevarication; 1. To evade the point in question, or the plain to equivocate.

2. To pun; to play upon words.

quib-blĕr, s. [Eng. quibbl(e); -er.]

1. One who quibbles, equivocates, or evades the point in question, or the plain truth; an equivocator, a prevaricator. 2. One who makes puns or plays upon words. 3. One who finds fault or disagrees upon points of little or no importance.

quib -bling, pr. par. or a. [QUIBBLE, v.] quibbling-ly, adv. [Eng. quibbling; -ly.] a quibbling manner; evasively." *quib-lin, s. [Eng. quib; dimin. suff. -lin.] quibble, a quip.

In

A

qui-ca, s. [Native Brazilian name.] Zool. A small omnivorous South American opossum (Didelphys quica), native of Guiana and Brazil.

quiçe, 8. [QUIST.] The Wood-pigeon. *quich, *quech, v. i. [QUEACH, v.] quick, *quik-en, *quyk en, v. t. & i. [A. S. cwician; O. H. Ger. quichan.] [QUICK, a.] A. Trans.: To make quick or alive; to quicken. B. Intrans.: To revive; to become alive. *quyke, *qwic, qwyk, qwyke, cwic, *cwick, quick, quek, *quik, *quikke, *quycke, *quyk, *cwike, *cwyk, kuik, a., adv. & s. [A. S. cwic, cuc; cogn. with Dut. kwik; Icel. kvikr, kykr; Dan. quik; Sw. quick. From the same root come Lat. vivo to live; vivus-living; Gr. bios-life; Sansc. jiv-to live.]

"You have a quick wit."

Shakesp.: Two Gentlemen of Verona, i. 1.

5. Speedy, hasty, swift; done or happening in a short time or without delay; rapid; as, small profits and quick returns.

6. Hasty, prompt, ready. "Jealous of his dignity and quick to take offense."Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. viii.

7. Irritable, sharp, abrupt.
8. Rash, precipitate, hasty.

"You must not be so quick."
Shakesp.: Love's Labor's Lost, ii.

9. Sensitive; perceptive in a high degree; hence, excitable, restless, passionate.

"The ear more quick of apprehension." Shakesp.: Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. II. Mining: Veins that contain ore are said to be quick with ore.

B. As adverb:

1. In a quick manner; with quickness or speed; rapidly, quickly, speedily.

"That made her heart beat quick." Wordsworth: Excursion, bk. i.

2. In a short time; soon.

C. As substantive:

I. Ordinary Language:

1. A living animal.

2. With the definite article:

(1) The living flesh; the sensible or sensitive parts; hence, fig., that which is susceptible of or causes keen feeling.

"Stung to the quick, he felt it at his heart." Dryden: Palamon and Aroite. (2) (Pl.) The living, as opposed to the dead. 3. A live fence or hedge composed of growing plants, as hawthorn.

II. Bot.: (1) Agrostis stolonifera [FIORIN]; (2) Triticum repens. [QUITCH.]

Quick with child: Having quickened. [QUICKEN,

A. 3.]

*quick-answered, a. Quick in reply; roady in answering. (Shakesp.: Cymbeline, iii. 4.)

*quick-eyed, a. Having acute or sharp sight; quick of sight.

quicking

quick-grass, s. [QUITCH.]

quick-hedge, s. A hedge composed of quick or growing plants; a quick.

quick-in-hand, s.

Bot.: Impatiens noli-tangere. quick-loader, s.

Firearms: (See extract.)

"The object of the quick-loader, as the name implies, is to facilitate rapidity of loading. It is a case made of small pouch. When in use it is attached to the right side metal; and in shape and appearance something like a of the rifle, close to the breech action. It contains six

cartridges, which, by means of a spring, are forced upons after the other in a very ready manner to the loader's hand.”—Saturday Review, Feb. 16, 1884, p. 209.

quick-march, s.

Mil.: A march at the rate of 34 miles an hour, or 110 paces (275 feet) a minute. Also called Quickstep. quick-match, s. [MATCH (1), s., 2.] quick-mosses, s. pl.

Bot. Confervaceæ. Called also Quiver-worts. quick-scented, adj. Having sharp or acute

scent.

quick-sighted, a. Having sharp or acute sight or discernment; quick to discern.

"Quick-sighted arbiter of good and ill, Appointed sage preceptor to the Will." Cowper: Tirocinium, 31. quick-sightedness, s. The quality or state of being quick-sighted.

quick-step, s. [QUICK-MARCH.] quick-water, s.

Gilding: A dilute solution of nitrate of mercury (10) and gold (1), used in the process of water-gilding (q. v.).

quick-witted, a. Having a ready and sprightly

wit.

quick-wittedness, s. The quality or state of being quick-witted.

quick-work, s.

Shipbuilding: Inside planking or skin, between

ports.

quick-beam, s. [QUICKEN, 8.]

quick-en, *quik-en, *quyck-en, *quyk-en, *quyk-ne, "quyk-nyn, *qwyk-en, v. i. & t. [Icel. kvikna; Sw. quickna to become alive.] [QUICK, v. & a.]

A. Intransitive:

1. To make alive; to vivify, to revive, to resuscitate; to give life to.

"To breathe life into a stone, quicken a rock.” Shakesp.: All's Well that Ends Well, ii. 1. 2. To give spiritual life to.

"You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins."-Ephesians ii. 1.

3. To revive, to reinvigorate, to cheer, to refresh. "Music and poesy use, to quicken you."

Shakesp.: Taming of the Shrew, i. 1.

4. To hasten, to accelerate; to cause to move with greater speed; as, Ho quickened his pace.

5. To sharpen, to stimulate; to make more sharp or acute; as, to quicken the appetite.

quick -ẹn, quick-bēam, s. [Eng. quick, v.] Bot.: Pyrus aucuparia.

quick-en-er, *quick-ner, s.

marîne;

gō,

pot,