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quirk

noun
/kwɜːk/UK/kwɝk/US

Etymology

First attested in the 1540s. Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Middle English *querk, from Old Norse kverk (“a bend or angle, especially below a cross-beam or below the chin, the bight of an axe", also "throat, gullet”), from Proto-Germanic *kwerkō (“throat, gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour; maw”). Cognate with Scots querk (“throat", also "any hollow in the body, such as an armpit, groin, instep, etc.”), Icelandic kverk (“interior angle”). Also partially from dialectal quirk, querk (“a whim, fancy, fuss, huff, complaint", also "to peevishly grumble, grunt, sigh, croak, die”), from Middle English querken, *quirken (“to choke”), from Old Norse kvirkja (“to choke, strangle”), from the same origin above. Related to dialectal querken, quirken (“to choke”). Likely not related to queer.

  1. derived from kvirkja — “to choke, strangle”
  2. inherited from querken
  3. derived from *gʷerh₃-✻ — “to devour; maw”
  4. derived from *kwerkō✻ — “throat, gullet”
  5. derived from kverk — “a bend or angle, especially below a cross-beam or below the chin, the bight of an axe", also "throat, gullet”
  6. inherited from *querk✻

Definitions

  1. An idiosyncrasy

    An idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, a mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone.

    • The car steers cleanly, but the gearshift has a few quirks.

  2. An acute angle dividing a molding

    An acute angle dividing a molding; a groove that runs lengthwise between the upper part of a molding and a soffit.

  3. A quibble, evasion, or subterfuge.

    • Had you no quirk / To avoid gullage, sir, by such a creature?
    • Let us not be too curious in prying into Gods arke, leaſt vve ſmart like the flie fluttering about the candle, for God is a conſuming fire to thoſe that vvill be ſporting themſelves in the quirks of their vvit about his ſacred myſteries.
  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. To (cause to) move with a wry jerk.

      • He quirked an eyebrow.
      • The corners of her mouth quirked.
      • He quirked his lips playfully.

    2. To furnish with a quirk or channel.

    3. To alter in a unique and unusual way.

      • But in the dream the forms are quirked by the peculiar troubles of the dreamer, whereas in myth the problems and solutions shown are directly valid for all mankind.

    4. To use verbal tricks or quibbles.

      • I have stung her and wrung her, The venom is working;— And if you had hung her With canting and quirking, She could not be deader than she will be soon

    5. Alternative form of querk.

    6. A surname.

      • Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) has introduced a bill to address power outages caused by metallic film balloons when they come into contact with powerlines.

The neighborhood

Derived

quirkful, quirkish, quirkless, quirk of fate, quirks mode, quirksome, quirky

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for quirk. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA