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quarter

/ˈkwɔːrtər/  ·  say it: KWOR·ter

a three-month period used for reporting

In From the Business Pages

In more detail

1. (noun) one of four equal parts of something

2. (noun) a period of three months

3. (noun) a coin worth 25 cents

4. (noun) a district or area of a city

5. (verb) to divide something into four equal parts

Examples

• A quarter of the pizza is still left.
• The company's earnings improved in the third quarter.
• Do you have a quarter for the parking meter?

How to use quarter

Quarter is a highly versatile word with distinct meanings depending on context: as a fraction (one-quarter of the cake), as a time unit (fiscal quarter, quarter past three), as currency (US quarter coin), or as a location (the historic quarter). The specific meaning is usually clear from context, though it can occasionally create ambiguity.

Common phrases

• a quarter of
• quarter past
• quarter to
• quarter final
• from all quarters

Synonyms

fourth · 25 cents · district · three-month period · section

Word family

quarterly · quartered · quartering

A common mistake

Learners sometimes confuse 'a quarter to' with 'quarter past'—quarter to three means 2:45, while quarter past three means 3:15.

Nearby in From the Business Pages

capital expenditure, top line, year-on-year, offshoring, reshoring, inflationary

Keep going

How to remember the words you read · Spaced repetition, explained