Quirk

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              We ground the justification of our nonconformity on
              dark subtilties and intricate quirks. --Barrow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice. [Obs.] "Quirks
        of joy and grief." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Some odd quirks and remnants of wit.  --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. An irregular air; as, light quirks of music. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to
        its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex
        rounded molding.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Quirk molding}, a bead between two quirks.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  quirk
       n 1: a strange attitude or habit [syn: {oddity}, {queerness}, {quirkiness},
             {crotchet}]
       2: a narrow groove beside a beading
       v : twist or curve abruptly; "She quirked her head in a peculiar
           way"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  121 Moby Thesaurus words for "quirk":
     aberration, anamorphism, anamorphosis, aroma, asymmetry, attribute,
     badge, boutade, brainstorm, brand, buckle, cachet, capriccio,
     caprice, cast, cavil, character, characteristic, conceit,
     configuration, contortion, crank, craze, crazy idea, crookedness,
     crotchet, cut, detorsion, deviation, differentia, differential,
     disproportion, distinctive feature, distortion, dodge, earmark,
     eccentricity, fad, fancy, fantastic notion, fantasy, feature,
     figure, flavor, flimflam, fool notion, freak, freakish inspiration,
     gnarl, gust, habit, hallmark, harebrained idea, humor, idiocrasy,
     idiosyncrasy, imbalance, impress, impression, index, individualism,
     irregularity, jesuitism, keynote, kink, knot, lineaments,
     lopsidedness, maggot, mannerism, mark, marking, megrim, minauderie,
     mold, nature, notion, oddity, odor, particularity, passing fancy,
     peculiar trait, peculiarity, property, quality, quibble, quiddity,
     quillet, quip, quodlibet, savor, screw, seal, shape, shuffle,
     singularity, smack, specialty, stamp, taint, tang, taste, token,
     torsion, tortuosity, toy, trademark, trait, trick,
     trick of behavior, turn, twist, unsymmetry, vagary, warp, whim,
     whim-wham, whimsy, wrench, wrest, wring