quack 
These, like quacks in medicine, excite the malady to 
profit by the cure, and retard the cure to augment the 
fees. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 229. 
Hence 2. One who pretends to skill or know- 
ledge of any kind which he does not possess ; 
an ignorant and impudent pretender; a charla- 
tan. 
Men that go mincing, grimacing, with plausible speech 
and brushed raiment ; hollow within ! quacks political ; 
quacks scientific, academical. 
Carlyle, French Kev., II. HI. 2. 
=Syn. Quack, Empiric, Mountebank, Charlatan. A quack 
is, by derivation, one who talks much without wisdom, 
and, specifically, talks of his own power to heal ; hence, 
any ignorant pretender to medical knowledge or skill. Em- 
piric is a more elevated term for one who goes by mere 
experience in the trial of remedies, and is without know- 
ledge of the medical sciences or of the clinical obser- 
vations and opinions of others ; hence, an incompetent, 
self-confident practitioner. A mountebank is generally a 
quack, but may be a pretender in any line. Charlatan (lit- 
erally ' chatterer ') is primarily applied, not to a person be- 
longing to any particular profession or occupation, but to 
a pretentious cheat of any sort. 
II. a. Pertaining to or characterized by 
quackery of any kind ; specifically, falsely pre- 
tending to cure disease, or ignorantly or fraudu- 
lently set forth as remedies: as, a quack doc- 
tor; quack medicines. 
If all understood medicine, there would be none to take 
his quack medicine. Whately. 
The attractive head 
Of some quack-doctor, famous in his day. 
Wordsworth, Prelude, vii. 
In the eighteenth century men worshipped the things 
that seemed ; it was a quack century. 
Caroline Fox, Journal, p. 111. 
They're set to the doing of quack work, and paid wages 
for dishonesty. New Princeton Rev., II. 7. 
quackened (kwak'ud), a. [Var. of querkened, 
accom. to "quack, quackle 2 . See querken.] Al- 
most choked. [Prov. Eng.] 
quackery (kwak'er-i), n. ; pi. quackeries (-iz). 
[< quack 2 + -ery.] The boastful pretensions 
or knavish practice of a quack, particularly in 
medicine; empiricism; charlatanry; humbug. 
Such quackery is unworthy any person who pretends to 
learning. Parson, Letters to Travis, p. 41, note. 
An epoch when puffery and quackery have reached a 
height unexampled in the annals of mankind. 
Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, i. 2. 
quack-grass (kwak'gras), . Same as quick- 
grass, quitch-grass. 
quackhood (kwak'hud), . [< quack 2 + -hood.] 
Quackery. Carlyle, Past and Present, iii. 13. 
[Rare.] 
quacking-cheatt (kwak'ing-chet), . [< quack- 
ing, ppr. of quack 1 , v., + cheat 3 .'] A duck. 
Dekker (1616). (Halliwell.) [Old slang.] 
quackish (kwak'ish), a. [< quack 2 + -ish*.] 
Like a quack or charlatan; dealing in quack- 
ery; humbugging. 
The last quackish address of the National Assembly to 
the people of France. 
Burke, To a Member of the Nat. Assembly, note. 
quackism (kwak'izm), n. [< quack 2 + -ism.] 
The practice of quackery. Carlyle, Cagliostro. 
quackle 1 (kwak'l), v. i. ; pret. and pp. quackled, 
ppr. quackling. [Freq. of quack*.] To quack; 
croak. [Prov. Eng.] 
Simple ducks in those royal waters quackle for crumbs 
from young royal fingers. 
Carlyle, French Rev., XI. i. 1. (Danes.) 
quackle 2 (kwak'l), v. t. ; pret. and pp. quackled, 
ppr. quackling. [Freq. of "quack, imitative, like 
choke 1 , of the sound of choking. Cf . quackened.'] 
To suffocate; strangle; choke. [Prov. Eng.] 
As he was drinking, the drink, or something in the cup, 
quackled him, stuck so in his throat that he could not get 
it up nor down, but strangled him presently. 
Rev. S. Ward, Sermons, p. 153. 
qnacksalvet (kwak'sav), n. [< "quacksalve (D. 
kwakzalven), a verb assumed from quacksalver.] 
A quacksalver. 
A quacksalve, 
A fellow that does deal with drugs. 
Massinger, Parliament of Love, iv. 5. 
quacksalver (kwak'sal-ver), n. [< D. kwakzal- 
ver (= LG. qnaksalver, > G. quacksalver = Sw. 
qi-acksalvare = Dan. kvaksalver), a quacksalver, 
< kwaken, quack, + zalver, salver: see salver*.] 
One who boasts of his skill in medicines and 
salves, or of the efficacy of his nostrums; a 
charlatan ; a quack. 
And of a Physitian, That he is a Qtiack-salver, which slg- 
nifieth a Quick Healer, yet for the common acception ad- 
judged actionable. Jot. KeMe (1685), Reports, I. 62. 
They are quacksalvers, 
Fellows that live by venting oils and drugs. 
B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 1. 
These are not physicians indeed, but Italian miack-sal- 
vers, that, having drunk poison themselves, minister it to 
the people. Kev. T. Adams, Works, I. 390. 
4882 
quacksalving (kwak'sal-ving), a. [Ppr. of 
'quacksalre. v., implied in quacksalve, n., and 
quacksalver.] Quackish; humbugging. 
Tut, man, any guacksalmng terms will serve for this pur- 
pose. Middleton, Mad World, ii. 6. 
Quacksalmnff, cheating mountebank ! 
Massinger, Virgin-Martyr, iv. 1. 
quad 1 !, a. and n. See qued. 
quad 3 (kwod), . [Abbr. of quadrangle.] 1. 
A quadrangle or court, as of a college. [Col- 
loq.] 
The quad, as it was familiarly called, was a small quad- 
rangle. Trollope, Warden, v. 
2. The quadrangle of a prison where prisoners 
take exercise; hence, a prison; a jail. More 
commonly spelled quod. [Slang.] 
Fancy a nob like you being sent to quod ! Fiddlededee ! 
You see, sir, you weren't used to It. 
Disraeli, Henrietta Temple, vi. 21. 
My dear Arminius, ... do you really mean to maintain 
that a man can't put old Dlggs in quod for snaring a hare 
without all this elaborate apparatus of Roman law? 
M. Arnold, Friendship's Garland, viL 
quad 2 (kwod), v.t. [<giid2,n.] To put in prison. 
He was quodded for two months. 
Heuitett, College Life, xxix. (Uoppe.) 
quad 3 (kwod), M. [Abbr. oi quadrat.] In print- 
ing, a quadrat. 
quad 3 (kwod), v. t. ; pret. and pp. quadded, ppr. 
qiiadding. [< quad*, n.] In printing, to fill 
with quadrats: as, to quad out a line. 
quad 4 (kwod), n. An abbreviation of quadru- 
plcx in telegraphy. 
quaddy (kwod'i), a. [Prob. for "quatty, < quat* 
+ -y*.] Short and thick. Halliwell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
quadet, '' t. [< ME. quaden, < quad, bad: see 
qued.] To spoil or destroy. Halliwell. 
Thine errores will thy worke confounde, 
And all thine honoure quade. 
Halle's Historiall Expostulation (1565). (Nora.) 
quaderH (kwa'der), v. i. [< OF. quadrer, F. 
cadrer = Sp. cuadrar = ~Pg. quadrar = lt. quad- 
rare, < L. quadrare, make square or four-cor- 
nered : see quadrate.] To quadrate ; match. 
The x doth not quader well with him, because it sounds 
harshly. [list. Don Quixote (1675), p. 88. 
quader- (kwa'der), . [G., square, < MHG. 
qudder, < L. quadnts (sc. lapis), square: see 
quadra*.] The German name of a division of 
the Cretaceous : an abbreviation of quadersand- 
stein, paving-sandstone. It is divided into Unter-, 
Mittel-, and Oberquader. The last is the equivalent of the 
Upper Chalk of England and France, and is familiar as 
being the rock which, by its peculiar erosion, has given 
rise to the picturesque scenery of Saxon Switzerland. 
quader 3 (kwa'der), n. [< L. quadratus, pp. of 
quadrare, make square: see quadrate.] In 
anat., the quadrate lobule, or prsecuneus. 
quadnesst, . See quedness. 
quadra 1 (kwod'ra), . ; pi. quadra (-re). [< L. 
quadra, a squareja plinth, a fillet ; fern, of (LL. ) 
quadrus, square : see quadrate and square*.] In 
arch., etc.: (a) A square frame or border in- 
Quadra. "Annunciation," by I.iica della Robbia, in the Borgo 
San Jacopo, Florence. 
closing a bas-relief; also, any frame or border. 
(6) The plinth of a podium, (c) Any small 
molding of plain or square section, as one of 
the fillets above and below the scotia of the 
Ionic base. 
quadra 2 , n. See cuadra. 
quadrable (kwod'ra-bl), a. [< L. as if *quadra- 
bilis, < quadrare, square : see quadrate, v.] In 
geom., capable of being squared ; having an area 
exactly equal to that of an assignable square; 
also, capable of being integrated in finite terms ; 
capable of having its definite integral expressed 
in exact numerical terms. 
quadrans 
quadrad (kwod'rad), n. [< L. gnat/nor (qiuidr-), 
= E. /-, + -ad 1 .] Same as tetnid. 
quadfagenarious (kwod"ra-je-na'ri-us), a. [= 
F. giiiidrai/i'iniire = Sp. cuaaragenario = Pg. It. 
mutdragenario, < L. quadragenarius, pertaining 
to the number forty, consisting of forty, < iji/ml- 
rageni, forty each: see quiulragfnr.] Consist- 
ing of forty; forty years old. Imp. Diet. 
quadragene (kwod'ra-jen), n. [< L. quadra- 
geni, forty each, distributive of quadraghitu, 
forty, = E. forty.] A papal indulgence for forty 
days; a remission of the temporal punishment 
due to sin corresponding to the forty days of 
the ancient canonical penance. Imp. Diet. 
You have with much labour and some charge purchased 
to yourself so many quadragenes, or lents of pardon : that 
is, you have bought ort' the penances of so many times forty 
days ! Jer. Taylor, Dissuasive from Popery, I. ii. s 4. 
Quadragesima (kwod-ra-jes'i-ma), n. [= F. 
qiiadragesime = Sp. cuadragesima = Pg. It. 
quadragesima, < ML. quadragesima, Lent, < L. 
quadragesima, fern, of quadragesimus, quadra- 
gensumus, fortieth, < quadraginta, forty, = E. 
forty.] Lent: so called because it continues 
forty days. See Lent* Quadragesima Sunday, 
the first Sunday in Lent. 
quadragesimal (kwod-ra-jes'i-mal), a. and n. 
[= F. quadragesimal = Sp. cuadragesimal = 
Pg. quadragesimal = It. quadragesimale, < ML. 
quadragesimalis, pertaining to Lent, < L. quad- 
ragesima, Lent: see Quadragesima.] I. a. Per- 
taining to the forty days of Lent; belonging to 
Lent; used in Lent; Lenten. 
Quadragesimal wits, and fancies lean 
As ember weeks. W. Cartwright, Ordinary, iii. 5. 
This quadragesimal solemnity, in which, for the space of 
someweeks, the church has, in some select days, enjoined 
a total abstinence from flesh. South, Sermons, IX. 134. 
II. ". An offering formerly made to a mother 
church by a daughter church on Mid-Lent Sun- 
day. 
quadragesmsr, . [< L. quadragesimus, for- 
tieth: see Quadragesima.] A name for a sec- 
tion of the fourth volume of the English Law 
Reports of the time of Edward III., covering the 
last twelve years of his reign. 
quadrangle (kwod'rang-gl), n. [< F. quad- 
rangle = Sp. cuadrdngulo = Pg. quadrangulo = 
It. qitadrangolo, < LL. quadrangulum, a four- 
cornered figure, a quadrangle, neut. of L. quad- 
rangulus, quadriangulus, four-cornered, < quat- 
tuor (combining form quadr-, quadri-, quadru-, 
the adj. quadrus, square, being later), + atigu- 
lus, an angle, a corner : see angle 3 .] 1 . A plane 
figure having four angles; a foursquare figure; 
a quadrilateral ; in mod. geom., a plane figure 
formed by six lines intersecting at four points. 
2. A square or oblong court nearly or quite 
surrounded by buildings : an arrangement com- 
mon with public buildings, as palaces, city 
halls, colleges, etc. 
My choler being over-blown 
With walking once about the quadrangle. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., i. 3. 166. 
At the Palais Royale Henry IV. built a faire quadrangle 
of stately palaces, arched underneath. 
Evelyn, Diary, Feb. 4, 1644. 
Julian hardly stopped to admire the smooth green quad- 
rangle and lofty turrets of King Henry's College. 
Farrar, Julian Home, v. 
3. In palmistry, the space between the line of 
the heart and that of the head Axis of a quad- 
rangle, one of the three lines passing each through two 
centers of thequadrangle. Center of a quadrangle, one 
of the three points in which opposite sides of a quadrangle 
meet. In quadrangle, in her., arranged, as charges or 
groups of charges, so that four will occupy the four quar- 
ters of the escutcheon, with no lines of division between 
the quarters : as, or, four lions in quadrangle gules. 
quadrangular (kwod-rang'gu-liir), a. [= F. 
quadrangulaire = Sp. cuadraiigular = Pg. quad- 
rangular = It. quadrangolare, < L. quadrangu- 
lus, four-cornered : see quadrangle.] Four-cor- 
nered; four-angled; having four angles. 
That the college consist of three fair quadrangular 
courts and three large grounds, enclosed with good walls 
behind them. Cowley, The College. 
As I returned, I diverted to see one of the Prince's Pal- 
aces, ... a very magnificent cloyster'd and quadrangular 
building. Evelyn, Diary, Sept. 1, 1641. 
Quadrangular lobe, the quadrate lobe of the cerebel- 
lum. 
quadrangularly (kwod-rang'gu-lar-li), adv. In 
the form of a quadrangle. 
quadrans (kwod'ranz), . ; pl.quadrantes (kwod- 
ran'tez). [L., a fourth part, a quarter, a coin, 
weight, and measure so called: see quadrant.] 
In Bom. atit/tj., a copper (or, strictly, bronze) 
coin, the fourth part of the as. It bore on the ob- 
verse the head of Hercules, and on the reverse (like the 
other coins of the libra! series) a prow. It also bore three 
