Also 4–6 quartre. [f. QUARTER sb. AF. quarteré is found c. 1350.]
1. trans. To cut into quarters; to divide into four equal or equivalent parts. Also with out (cf. 2 b). a. things in general.
c. 1430. Two Cookery-bks., 18. Take a Capoun … quarter hym.
c. 1500. in Prymer (E.E.T.S.), 171. Take a penyworthe of hyt, and quarter hyt in fowre.
c. 1590. Marlowe, Faust., vii. The streets … Quarter the town in four Equivalents.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., 284. As for the divisions of the yeare, and the quartering out this remarkable standard of time [etc.].
1735. Pope, Donne Sat., IV. 136. He knows … Whose place is quarter’d out, three parts in four.
1796. Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, xiv. 260. Pare and quarter your apples and take out the cores.
1860. Reade, Cloister & H., lvi. So [to] halve their land instead of quartering it.
b. the body of a person, esp. of a traitor or criminal. (Cf. quots. for HANG v. 3, DRAW v. 4.)
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VIII. 291. His body was i-quartred and i-sent into dyvers places of Engelonde.
1440. J. Shirley, Dethe K. James, 23. The said hongman smot of thare hedes, and there quartard hem.
1508. Kennedie, Flyting w. Dunbar, 416. Hang Dunbar, Quarter and draw.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., III. i. 268. Infants quartered with the hands of Warre.
1723. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 292. Being discovered, betrayed,… hanged, quartered, &c.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 614. A few … were set apart for the hideous office of quartering the captives.
transf. and fig. 1595. Shaks., John, II. i. 506. Hang’d in the frowning wrinkle of her brow!—And quarter’d in her heart.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., I. 2. The very Gospell it selfe,… is quartered, mangled, and reiected.
1824–8. Landor, Imag. Conv., Wks. 1846, I. 259. At present the one hangs property, the other quarters it.
c. Mech. To fix cranks on (a shaft), to make wrist-pin holes in (a driving-wheel), a quarter of a circle apart (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875).
2. To divide into parts fewer or more than four. Also with out.
14[?]. Sir Beues (M.), 4239. Dede bodyes quarterrid in thre.
1552. Huloet, Quarter or trymme a garden, deformare aream.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., VI. ii. 44. Clad all in gilden armes, with azure band Quartred athwart.
1599. T. M[oufet], Silkwormes, 55. Send Witte the knife to quarter out their meate as need requires.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., xiv. 69. Quarter Bullets is … any bullet quartered in foure or eight parts.
1634. Milton, Comus, 29. This Ile … He quarters to his blu-hair’d deities.
a. 1800. K. Malcolm & Sir Colvin, in Child, Ballads, II. 62/2. Here is a sword … Will quarter you in three.
† b. To quarter out: To mark out, outline. Obs.
1600. Surflet, Countrie Farme, III. xxvii. 484. The iuice [of the fig] doth constraine the skin to fall into wreathes and to quarter out a thousand shapes.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Country Farme, 158. You shall quarter out a bed for Leekes.
3. Her. a. To place or bear (charges or coats of arms) quarterly upon a shield; to add (another’s coat) to one’s hereditary arms; to place in alternate quarters with.
14[?]. Tournam. Tottenham, 153, in Hazl., E. P. P., III. 89. The chefe was of a ploo mell,… Quartered with the mone liȝt.
1571. Gascoigne, Deuise of Maske, Wks. (Roxb.), I. 85. Confessing that he … bare the selfe same armes that I dyd quarter in my Scute.
1605. Camden, Rem., Rythmes, 25. King Edward the third when he first quartered the Armes of France with England.
1628. Coke, On Litt., Pref. This faire descended Family de Littleton,… quartereth many faire Coates.
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), I. 152. [Henry’s] sacrificing the gallant earl of Surrey for quartering the arms of England, as he undoubtedly had a right to quarter them.
1854. Hawthorne, Eng. Note-bks. (1883), I. 493. The royal banner of England, quartering the lion, the leopard, and the harp.
1880. Dixon, Windsor, III. ix. 89. Norfolk … had quartered his wife’s arms.
absol. 1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Quartering, The King of Great Britain quarters with Great Britain, France, Ireland, Brunswick, &c.
1893. Cussans, Heraldry (ed. 4), 171. Neither would their issue—being unable to quarter—be permitted to bear their maternal coat.
b. To divide (a shield) into quarters, or into any number of divisions formed by vertical and horizontal lines.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. i. 18. In his silver shield He bore a bloodie Crosse that quartred all the field.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., Counter-quartered … denotes the escutcheon, after being quartered, to have each quarter divided again into two.
1868. Browning, Ring & Bk., VI. 237. Our arms are those of Fiesole itself, The shield quartered with white and red.
4. To put (soldiers or others) into quarters; to station, place or lodge in a particular place. Also pass. = to have one’s abode, lodging, etc.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 34. Where is Lord Stanley quarter’d, do you know?
1665. Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 221. The Duke of Parma all this Winter, quarter’d his men in the Village of Brabant.
1723. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 233. After this campaign I was quartered at Cremona.
1795. Wellington, in Gurw., Desp. (1837), I. 2. The 33rd Regiment was landed and quartered at Poole.
1822. W. Irving, Braceb. Hall, i. 4. I am again quartered in the panelled chamber.
1882. B. D. W. Ramsay, Recoll. Mil. Serv., I. i. 5. He was then quartered in Edinburgh as a lieutenant.
b. With on, upon: To impose (soldiers) upon (a householder, town, etc.), to be lodged and fed.
1683. Apol. Prot. France, ii. 29. He quartered his Men upon those of the Protestant Religion.
1815. J. W. Croker, in C. Papers, 14 July (1884). Blucher has quartered a guard of Prussians on him.
1874. Green, Short Hist., viii. § 3. 485. Soldiers were quartered on recalcitrant boroughs.
transf. and fig. 1663. Butler, Hud., I. i. 274. He’d suck his Claws And quarter himself upon his Paws.
1714. Spect., No. 595, ¶ 6. You have Quartered all the foul Language upon me, that could be raked out of the Air of Billingsgate.
1812. L. Hunt, in Examiner, 24 Aug., 531/1. Those upon whom the Attorney-General is pleased to quarter his attentions.
1874. Green, Short Hist., iii. § 5. 139. Italian clergy were quartered on the best livings of the Church.
5. intr. To take up (one’s) quarters; to stay, reside, lodge. (Freq. in 17th c.)
1581. Savile, Tacitus, Hist., II. lxvi. (1591), 91. That they and the cohorts of Batauians should quarter together.
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia, III. ii. 49. That night they quarterd in the woods.
1670. R. Montagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 482. The whole army … will quarter there for some time.
1723. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 240. The man in whose house I quartered was exceedingly civil to me.
1781. Hamilton, Wks. (1886), VIII. 44. I quarter, at present, by a … warm invitation, with General Lincoln.
1863. Cowden Clarke, Shaks. Char., x. 262. An atmosphere of manner belonging to those who have quartered in various countries.
transf. 1668. Culpepper & Cole, Barthol. Anat., Manual I. v. 312. A remarkable Vein about the Heart … quartering on the one side, without another on the other side.
b. With on or upon. (Cf. 4 b.) ? Obs.
1650. Fuller, Pisgah, II. v. 122. The Canaanites quartered … hard on the men of Asher.
1681. Lond. Gaz., No. 1583/4. A body of men should be sent to quarter upon the Country.
6. To give quarters to; to furnish with quarters or lodgings. ? Obs.
1681. W. Robertson, Phraseol. Gen. (1693), 1040. To quarter, hospitio accipere.
1682. Bunyan, Holy War (Cassell), 177. They had called his soldiers into the town [and] coveted who should quarter the most of them.
absol. 1667. Ormonde MSS., in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 56. [Certain] inhabitants of the said towne, refuse to quarter or pay the allowances for quartering.
7. Naut. To assign (men) to a particular quarter on board ship; to place or station for action.
1695. T. Smith, Voy. Constantinople, in Misc. Cur. (1708), III. 6. The Captain quartered his Men, and the Decks were cleared.
1748. Anson’s Voy., III. viii. 378. He had not hands enough remaining to quarter a sufficient number to each great gun.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), G g ij. The marines are generally quartered on the poop and forecastle.
1809. J. Dale, in Naval Chron., XXIV. 78. The Europeans … had been quartered to the upper deck guns.
8. Naut. a. intr. To sail with the wind on the quarter, i.e., between beam and stern.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., vii. 31. When you goe before the wind, or quartering.
1628. Digby, Voy. Medit. (1868), 83. Quartering with one tacke abord till you gett your chace vpon your beame.
1725. De Saumarez, in Phil. Trans., XXXIII. 424. Sometimes sailing right before the Wind, then quartering.
b. intr. Of wind: To blow on a ship’s quarter.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, xi. (1840), 192. She came down upon us with the wind quartering.
c. Of a sea: To strike (a ship) on the quarter.
1890. W. Clark Russell, Ocean Trag., I. v. 94. The sea had quartered her and swept … along her lustrous bends.
9. Build. To construct (a wall or partition) with quarters of wood.
1703. T. N., City & C. Purchaser, 278. The Walls being quarter’d and Lathed between the Timber.
1848. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., IX. II. 570. The former [circle] above the brickwork being quartered and plastered.
10. To range or traverse (ground, etc.) in every direction. Said esp. of dogs in search of game.
1700. J. Collier, 2nd Def. Short View, 118. He has rang’d over a great deal of Ground, and Quarter’d the Fields of Greece and Italy.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 139. They crossed and quartered the country at pleasure.
1766. Pennant, Brit. Zool. (1768), II. 235. Who pass over the fields and quarter the ground as a setting dog.
1788. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Sir J. Banks & Emp. of Morocco, Wks. 1812, II. 94. Just like a Pointer quartering well his ground.
1873. Tristram, Moab, viii. 143. To traverse and quarter these ruins is a good day’s work.
1888. Antipod. Notes, 6. Two boats are … quartering the sea, as a … pointer quarters a turnip-field.
b. intr. To range to and fro; to shift from point to point.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, II. v. They quarter over the ground again and again, Tom always on the defensive.
1873. G. C. Davies, Mount. & Mere, x. 76. The hounds quartered to and fro.
c. intr. To drive from side to side of the road.
In quot. 1834 app. a misinterpretation of sense 11.
1834. De Quincey, Autob. Sk., Wks. 1862, XIV. 296. The postillion … was employed … eternally, in quartering, i.e., in crossing from side to side, according to the casualties of the ground.
1888. Elworthy, W. Somerset Word-bk., Quarter.… To drive uphill in such a way that the horse crosses the road backwards and forwards so as to diminish the gradient.
d. intr. To move in a slanting direction.
1894. Outing (U.S.), XXIV. 387/1. The bird quartered past the Judge who had only cut a bunch of feathers from it. Ibid. (1895), XXVI. 401/1. We … changed our direction so as to ‘quarter’ by them.
11. intr. To drive a cart or carriage so that the right and left wheels are on (two of) the quarters of a road, with a rut between. Also, of a horse: To walk with the feet thus placed; hence, to walk in front of the wheel.
This is also the sense of F. cartayer, Walloon quateler (Littré), which are etymologically related to the Engl. word.
1800. Tuke, Agric., 300, note. Two horse-carts should be drawn by the horses abreast … by which means they would be enabled to quarter or stride the ruts.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), II. xxvii. A rugged narrow lane in which the ruts refuse to fit your wheels and yet there is no room to quarter.
1847. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., VIII. II. 277. The carting off the cabbages … is done with a quarter-cart, as it is termed in Suffolk, having the shafts so placed that the horse walks before the right hand wheel; in other words, it ‘quarters.’
1859. Mrs. Gaskell, Round the Sofa, I. 20. We had to quarter, as Randal called it, nearly all the way along the deep-rutted, miry lanes.
1879–. In dialect glossaries (Shropsh., Chesh., etc.).
b. intr. To drive to the side in order to allow another vehicle to pass. (Cf. QUART v.2)
1849. De Quincey, Eng. Mail Coach, Wks. 1862, IV. 334. Every creature that met us would rely upon us for quartering.
1866. Geo. Eliot, F. Holt, 1. Elderly gentlemen in pony-chaises, quartering nervously to make way [etc.].
c. To set (the shafts of a cart) so that the horse walks in front of one of the wheels.
1847. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., VIII. II. 268. The shafts are quartered, so that the horses (usually two) walk in the furrow followed by one wheel.
12. intr. Of the moon: To begin a fresh quarter. Also with in.
1789. G. Keate, Pelew Isl., 227. They would have bad weather until the moon quartered.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple (1863), 157. The new moon’s quartered in with foul weather.
