quirk

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists” ( Harriet Beecher Stowe).
2. n. An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.
3. n. A sudden sharp turn or twist.
4. n. An equivocation; a quibble.
5. n. Architecture A lengthwise groove on a molding between the convex upper part and the soffit.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A sharp turn or angle; a sudden twist.
2. n. Hence An artful turn for evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble: as, the quirks of a pettifogger.
3. n. A fit or turn; a short paroxysm.
4. n. A smart taunt or retort; a slight conceit or quibble; a quip; a flight of fancy.
5. n. Inclination; turn; peculiarity; humor; caprice.
6. n. A sudden turn or flourish in a musical air; a fantastic phrase.
7. n. In building, a piece taken out of any regular ground-plot or floor, as to make a court or yard, etc.: thus, if the ground-plan were square or oblong, and a piece were taken out of the corner, such piece is called a quirk.
8. n. In architecture, an acute angle or recess; a deep indentation; the incision under the abacus.
9. n. A pane of glass cut at the sides and top in the form of rhomb.
10. n. In a grooving-plane, a projecting fillet on the sole or side, arranged to serve as a fence or gage for depth or distance.
11. To turn sharply.
12. To twist or turn; form into quirks.
13. To form or furnish with a quirk or channel.
14. To emit the breath forcibly after retaining it in violent exertion.
15. To grunt; complain.

Wiktionary

1. n. an idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone
2. n. architecture An acute angle dividing a molding; a groove that runs lengthwise between the upper part of a moulding and a soffit
3. n. archaic A quibble, evasion, or subterfuge.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble.
2. n. obsolete A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice.
3. n. A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
4. n. An irregular air.
5. n. (Building) A piece of ground taken out of any regular ground plot or floor, so as to make a court, yard, etc.; -- sometimes written quink.
6. n. (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex rounded molding.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a strange attitude or habit
2. v. twist or curve abruptly
3. n. a narrow groove beside a beading