Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy.
  • noun An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary.
  • noun A sudden sharp turn or twist.
  • noun Architecture A lengthwise groove on a molding between the convex upper part and the soffit.
  • noun Archaic An equivocation; a quibble.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To turn sharply.
  • To twist or turn; form into quirks.
  • To form or furnish with a quirk or channel.
  • To emit the breath forcibly after retaining it in violent exertion.
  • To grunt; complain.
  • noun A sharp turn or angle; a sudden twist.
  • noun Hence An artful turn for evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble: as, the quirks of a pettifogger.
  • noun A fit or turn; a short paroxysm.
  • noun A smart taunt or retort; a slight conceit or quibble; a quip; a flight of fancy.
  • noun Inclination; turn; peculiarity; humor; caprice.
  • noun A sudden turn or flourish in a musical air; a fantastic phrase.
  • noun 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.
  • noun In architecture, an acute angle or recess; a deep indentation; the incision under the abacus.
  • noun A pane of glass cut at the sides and top in the form of a rhomb.
  • noun In a grooving-plane, a projecting fillet on the sole or side, arranged to serve as a fence or gage for depth or distance.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble.
  • noun obsolete A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice.
  • noun A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
  • noun An irregular air.
  • noun (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.
  • noun (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex rounded molding.
  • noun a bead between two quirks.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a strange attitude or habit
  • verb twist or curve abruptly
  • noun a narrow groove beside a beading

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested in the 1540s. Of uncertain origin.

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Examples

  • Basically, I don't think that dewarping the quirk is the point so much as working through the narrative logic is.

    Archive 2010-01-01 Hal Duncan 2010

  • Basically, I don't think that dewarping the quirk is the point so much as working through the narrative logic is.

    Modality and Hamlet Hal Duncan 2010

  • My local dry cleaner has acquiesced to what they call my quirk in using my own hangers for things that must be hung, and simply folding all the shirts which is a standard option.

    "Clarence Thomas leaps from his chair. He retrieves a wire coat hanger from his closet...." Ann Althouse 2008

  • Maybe the whole point of the alethic quirk is to poke him hard, because his gasp of shock -- but! but! but! that could not happen!

    Modality and Hamlet Hal Duncan 2010

  • One final quirk is that in most jurisdictions of Mexico your Mexican spouse-to-be cannot marry anyone even a Mexican citizen without a Cartilla Militar (military service card).

    Marriage 2009

  • One final quirk is that in most jurisdictions of Mexico your Mexican spouse-to-be cannot marry anyone even a Mexican citizen without a Cartilla Militar (military service card).

    Marriage 2009

  • One final quirk is that in most jurisdictions of Mexico your Mexican spouse-to-be cannot marry anyone even a Mexican citizen without a Cartilla Militar (military service card).

    Marriage 2009

  • Numen/Monstrum – Facing an event that did happen (or the prefigura of an event that could happen); projecting ourselves into the characters or imagining such an event happening to ourselves, or coming about by our action, in so far as we desire/fear such an event, the strength or weakness of that quirk is the strength or weakness of our affect, positive or negative.

    Modality and Hamlet Hal Duncan 2010

  • One final quirk is that in most jurisdictions of Mexico your Mexican spouse-to-be cannot marry anyone even a Mexican citizen without a Cartilla Militar (military service card).

    Marriage 2009

  • One final quirk is that in most jurisdictions of Mexico your Mexican spouse-to-be cannot marry anyone even a Mexican citizen without a Cartilla Militar (military service card).

    Marriage 2009

Comments

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  • I am Quirk, and an aptronym.

    April 23, 2007

  • Care to share some of those quirks with us?

    I force fabulous children's books like Don't Let the Pidgeon Drive the Bus upon innocent twenty-somethings.

    April 23, 2007

  • Since there was nowhere else for her to go, she was obliged to wait in the lobby beside the umbrella-stand till he came out, quirked his head at her suspiciously, and went into his father's room.

    - Rebecca West, The Judge

    July 16, 2009