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quirk

 - 3 dictionary results

quirk

  [kwurk]
Use quirk in a Sentence
–noun
1. a peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality; mannerism: He is full of strange quirks.
2. a shift, subterfuge, or evasion; quibble.
3. a sudden twist or turn: He lost his money by a quirk of fate.
4. a flourish or showy stroke, as in writing.
5. Architecture.
a. an acute angle or channel, as one dividing two parts of a molding or one dividing a flush bead from the adjoining surfaces.
b. an area taken from a larger area, as a room or a plot of ground.
c. an enclosure for this area.
6. Obsolete. a clever or witty remark; quip.
–adjective
7. formed with a quirk or channel, as a molding.
Origin:
1540–50; orig. uncert.

Synonyms:
1. See eccentricity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To quirk
quirk   (kwûrk)   
n.  

  1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" (Harriet Beecher Stowe).

  2. An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.

  3. A sudden sharp turn or twist.

  4. An equivocation; a quibble.

  5. Architecture A lengthwise groove on a molding between the convex upper part and the soffit.


[Origin unknown.]
quirk'i·ly adv., quirk'i·ness n., quirk'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

quirk 
1565, "quibble, evasion," of unknown origin, perhaps connected to Ger. quer (see queer) via notion of twisting and slanting; but its earliest appearance in western England dialect seems to argue against this source. Perhaps originally a technical term for a twist or flourish in weaving. Sense of "peculiarity" is 1601; quirky first attested 1806 with meaning "shifty;" sense of "idiosyncratic" first recorded 1960.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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