Find the word definition

Crossword clues for quirk

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
quirk
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
strange
▪ What strange quirk of the heart made me feel so much a part of the life of this place?
▪ By a strange quirk of fate, Best ultimately joined Hibernian, the team Marinello graced as a teenager.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Although on the outside he was quiet and shy, Albert had more than his share of quirks.
▪ Greg is a nice guy, but he has a few weird personality quirks.
▪ It's a quirk of the language that pronunciation has changed, but not spelling.
▪ She took pride in her children's quirks and individuality, and made no effort to try to change them.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But good weather means you're out of doors, so these quirks don't matter.
▪ However, one writing quirk guaranteed that their newsletters, brochures, and announcements would end up in the trash.
▪ I mean, some cars have no quirks at all, and yet remain thoroughly joyless.
▪ Lighter in the mornings, and the quirk of the terrain amplifies Vassiliki winds in the late afternoon!
▪ Their characters are very alike in mannerisms and quirks as well as in their shyness and innocence.
▪ Through a quirk of nature, I, a reptile, had suddenly been rendered a biped.
▪ When it debuted it was billed as quirky fun, but it turned out to be a lot more quirk than fun.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Quirk

Quirk \Quirk\ (kw[~e]rk), n. [Written also querk.] [Cf. W. chwiori to turn briskly, or E. queer.]

  1. A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger. ``Some quirk or . . . evasion.''
    --Spenser.

    We ground the justification of our nonconformity on dark subtilties and intricate quirks.
    --Barrow.

  2. A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice. [Obs.] ``Quirks of joy and grief.''
    --Shak.

  3. A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.

    Some odd quirks and remnants of wit.
    --Shak.

  4. An irregular air; as, light quirks of music.
    --Pope.

  5. (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.
    --Gwilt.

  6. (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex rounded molding.

    Quirk molding, a bead between two quirks.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
quirk

1560s, "quibble, evasion," of unknown origin, perhaps connected to German quer (see queer (adj.)) 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 c.1600.

Wiktionary
quirk

n. 1 an idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone 2 (context architecture English) An acute angle dividing a molding; a groove that runs lengthwise between the upper part of a moulding and a soffit 3 (context archaic English) A quibble, evasion, or subterfuge. vb. (context ambitransitive English) To move with a wry jerk.

WordNet
quirk
  1. n. a strange attitude or habit [syn: oddity, queerness, quirkiness, crotchet]

  2. a narrow groove beside a beading

  3. v. twist or curve abruptly; "She quirked her head in a peculiar way"

Wikipedia
Quirk

Quirk or Quirks may refer to:

  • The Quirk, a literary magazine
  • "Quirks", a song by Ultravox! from the album Ha!-Ha!-Ha!
  • 18376 Quirk, an asteroid
  • Quirk Books, a Pennsylvania-based publishing company
  • Quirks mode, a web browser technique for maintaining backwards compatibility

Usage examples of "quirk".

Laedo wondered how many Erspias there were, each with its own artificially induced human quirk.

Beautiful forms still hinted at hidden misshaping, there were sly quirks of lips, a sidewise leer of eye.

Lips quirked, she closed her eyes and repeated her thoughts of the previous night, imagining fog that gradually coalesced into her aunt.

She quirked in wonder as the animal frantically scampered up a nearby tree.

Soberly, he cast a negligent eye over the challenge and quirked a brow at his friend.

Setting the list aside, he quirked a speculative brow at her and said nothing.

When the last geometric shape disappeared from her plate and she put down her fork, Jordan quirked a questioning brow at her, asking if she was finished.

Hiltsglen stared down at her, and though his lips no longer quirked upward the slightest whit, she realized he was smiling, in his own barbaric way.

But T had quirked a smile at her, and she drew a bit of confidence from that and slowed her speech.

Meet Bo-the-bug under the microscope of unwanted smirks and quirked brows.

Seeing the quirking canine brow, Sera assumed her pet disagreed with her assessment.

They said it together and both fell back in their chairs, pursing their lips, and quirking their brows at each other.

Alan led the way down Arapahoe through the blizzard to Eben Fine Park, the first conclusion he reached was that Kevin Quirk was an arrogant man.

Quirk west down Arapahoe, then across the narrow drive to the small parking area on the south side of the park.

Tarquine and Ardoise immediately rose to their feet, though Tarquine did it with that quirk of her eyebrows that so flustered him.