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Possible definitions for quatre

buttress
Exterior support, usually of masonry, projecting from the face of a wall and serving to strengthen it or resist outward thrust from an arch or roof. Buttresses also have a decorative function. Though used since ancient times (Mesopotamian temples featured decorative buttresses, as did Roman and Byzantine structures), they are especially associated with Gothic architecture. See also flying buttress.


Guare
U.S. dramatist. Born in New York, he studied at the Yale School of Drama. In 1971 he earned critical acclaim for The House of Blue Leaves. Two Gentlemen of Verona (1972, with Mel Shapiro), a rock-musical version of W. Shakespeare's comedy, won him Tony and New York Drama Critics Circle awards. His later works include Six Degrees of Separation (1990; film, 1993) and Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (1992). His screenplays include Atlantic City (1981).


quark
Any of a group of subatomic particles thought to be among the fundamental constituents of matter, more specifically, of protons and neutrons. The concept of the quark was first proposed by M. Gell-Mann and George Zweig (b.1937); its name was taken from J. Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake. Quarks include all particles that interact by means of the strong force. They have mass and spin, and they obey the Pauli exclusion principle. They have never been resolved into smaller components, and they never occur alone. Their behavior is explained by the theory of quantum chromodynamics, which provides a means of calculating their basic properties. There are six types of quark, called up, down, strange, charmed, bottom, and top. Only the up and down quarks are needed to make protons and neutrons; the others occur in heavier, unstable particles.


quartz
Second most abundant mineral (after feldspar) in the earth's crust, present in many rocks. Quartz, which consists of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), has great economic importance. Many varieties are gemstones, incl. amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, and rose quartz. Sandstone, composed mainly of quartz, is an important building stone. Large amounts of quartz sand (or silica sand) are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics and for molds in metal casting. Crushed quartz is used as an abrasive in sandpaper; silica sand is employed in sandblasting; and sandstone is used whole to make whetstones, millstones, and grindstones. Silica glass (or fused quartz) is used in optics to transmit ultraviolet light. Tubing and various vessels of fused quartz have important laboratory applications, and quartz fibers are employed in extremely sensitive weighing devices.


square
In measurement, a device consisting of two straightedges set at a right angle. It is used by carpenters and machinists to check the correctness of right angles, as a guide when drawing lines on materials before cutting, or for locating holes. In mechanical drawing or drafting, a T-shaped instrument ...

Top words beginning with Q: quinina, quarterbacking, quadrisyllabical, quietsome, questionably, quadratomandibular, quintain, quo, quaalude, quinquennially, quassias, quave, quinarian, quotidianness, quawk, quantic, quodammodo, quadratically, quantify, quadricornous

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