Chapter Q to Quarter of Q by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

by young theological students before the divinity professors. Hence it came to signify “babble,” “jargon,” anything crude, jejune, etc.

Quarantine (3 syl.). The forty days that a ship suspected of being infected with some contagious disorder is obliged to lie off port. (Italian, quarantina, forty; French, quarantaine.)
   To perform quarantine is to ride off port during the time of quarantine. (See Forty.)

Quarll (Philip). A sort of Robinson Crusoe, who had a chimpanzee for his “man Friday.” The story relates the adventures and sufferings of an English hermit named Philip Quarll.

Quarrel A short, stout arrow used in the crossbow. (A corruption of carrial; Welsh, chwarel; French, carreau. So called because the head was originally carré or four-sided. Hence also a quarrel or quarry of glass, meaning a square or diamond-shaped pane; quarier, a square wax-candle, etc.)

“Quarelles qwayntly swappez thorowe knyghtez
With iryne so wekyrly, that wynche they never.”
Morte d'Arthure.

Quarrel To quarrel over the bishop's cope- over something which cannot possibly do you any good; over goat's wool. This is a French expression. The newly-appointed Bishop of Bruges entered the town in his cope, which he gave to the people; and the people, to part it among themselves, tore it to shreds, each taking a piece.

Quarrel with your Bread and Butter (To). To act contrary to your best interest; to snarl at that which procures your living, like a spoilt child, who shows its ill-temper by throwing its bread and butter to the ground. To cut off your nose to be avenged on your face.

Quarry (A). The place where stone, marble, etc., are dug out and squared. (French, quarré, formed into square blocks.) (Tomlinson.)

Quarry Prey. This is a term in falconry. When a hawk struck the object of pursuit and clung to it, she was said to “bind;” but when she flew off with it, she was said to “carry.” The “carry” or “quarry,” therefore, means the prey carried off by the hawk. It is an error to derive this word from the Latin quaero (to seek).

“To tell the manner of it,
Were on the quarry of these murdered deer
To add the death of you.”
Shakespeare: Macbeth, iv. 3.

Quart d'Heure (Mauvais). A time of annoyance. The time between the arrival of the guests and the announcement of dinner is emphatically called the mauvais quart d'heure; but the phrase has a much larger application; thus we say the Cabinet Ministers must have had a mauvais quart d'heure when opening a number of telegrams of a troublesome character.

Quarter To grant quarter. To spare the life of an enemy in your power. Dr. Tusler says:- “It originated from an agreement anciently made between the Dutch and the Spaniards, that the ransom of a soldier should be the quarter of his pay.” (French, donner and demander quartier.)