queaslness 
They did fight with queannem, constrain'd, 
As men drink potions. Sliak., 2 Hen. IV., L 1. 196. 
Let them live and die in servile condition and thir scru- 
pulous queasiitess, if no instruction will conflrme them. 
Milton, Eikonoklastes, xxviii. 
queasy (kwe'zi), a. [Early mod. E. and dial. 
also qidiixi/: < ME. ijimi/sy, queysy, causing a 
feeling of nausea ; prob. < Norw. kveis, sickness 
after a debauch, = lcel. ki'cisa, in comp. idhra- 
kveisa, colic, = Sw. dial, kvesa, soreness, blis- 
4903 
For to deiue quike and dede 
He seal come to node and quede. 
Kiiuj Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 121. 
2. An evil person ; especially, the evil one ; the 
devil. 
A shrew ; an evil person. 
Namly an eyre (heir] that ys a qmd, 
That desyreth hys fadrys ded. 
MS. //art. 1701, f. 42. (Halliwell.) 
And lete me neuere falle in boondia of the queed ! 
Hymns tu Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 0. 
ter, pimple; perhaps akin to Sw. qvasa, bise, Q ue dina(kwe-di'na),ft. [NL. (Stephens, 1832).] 
Anotable genus of rove-beetles or Staphyliiiidie, 
having the prothoracic stigmata each covered 
by a triangular lamella. About 120 species have 
been described, the majority from Europe, but many from 
Asia and America ; 18 are found in America north of Mex- 
ico. Most of them have the ordinary rove-beetle habits, 
but Q. dilatatus breeds in hornets' nests in Europe, and 
will also eat honey. 
wound, squash, Dan. kvase, squash, crush. Of. 
AS. tficirimni, crush: see squeeze.'] 1. Affected 
with nausea ; inclined to vomit. 
The Reverend Doctor G aster found himself rathergtwosi/ 
in the morning, therefore preferred breakfasting in bed. 
Peacock, Headlong Hall, vii. 
2. Fastidious ; squeamish ; delicate. 
And even so in a manner these instruments make a man's rmedshlpt " "[ME. quedscliipe, queadschipe ; (. 
^T3^'SS^S^JSW^** >thl ;heybe V; + ^' ] Badne88; evilness - Ancren 
Ascham, Toxophilus (ed. 1864), p. 27. Btwle, p. 310. 
I am so 9I M*!/-stomached queed 1 , . A dialectal variant of quid 1 . Balli- 
I cannot taste such gross meat. well. 
Matsinger, Bondman, ii. 2. quee^a^ . See qued. 
Is there cause why these men should overween, and be queen 1 (kwen), n. [< ME. queen, quen, queue, 
so queoM of the rude multitude lest their deepe worth *, lene w f ien e, kuen, cwene, cwen, < AS. cwen, 
should be undervalu ^^^^^Ltrmimu. rarely etito (gen. cwene), a woman (L. femtna), 
Deprecation which is unusual even for the queasy mod- wife (L. uxor), queen (L.regina,mmeratrix, 
esty of sixteenth-century dedications. augusta), = OS. quart, wife, = OHlj. quena, 
S. Lanier, Sci. of Eng. Verse, p. vi. chuuena, wife, = Icel. kudu, kvxn, wife, = Goth. 
3. Apt to cause nausea ; occasioning uncom- kwens, rarely kweins. wife (not recorded in the 
36, requiring to be deli- sense of 'queen'). beegweaw.] l.Theconsort 
fortable feelings; hence, 
eately handled ; ticklish ; nice. 
Those times are somewhat queasy to be touched. 
B. Jonson, Sejanus, i. 1. 
I have one thing, of a queasy question, 
Which I must act. Shak., Lear, ii. 1. 19. 
I was not my own man again for the rest of the voyage. 
I had a queasy sense that I wore my last dry clothes upon 
my body. R. L. Stevenson, Inland Voyage, p. 132. 
4. Short; brief. Halliwell. [Pro v. Eng.] 
queazent (kwe'zn), v. t. [Foi'queasen, < qucas(y) 
+ -en 1 .] To make queasy; sicken. 
The spirable odor and pestilent steame . . . would have 
queazened him. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe(Harl. Misc., VI. 173). 
quebast, An old game. 
Every afternoon at my Lady Briefs and my Lady Mean- 
well's at ombre and quebas. 
Etheredge, She Would if she Could, iii. 3. 
Quebec group. In geol. , a division of the Lower 
Silurian established by the Canada Geological 
Survey, of very uncertain value. 
According to recent researches by Mr. Selwyn, the Que- 
bec group as defined by Logan embraces three totally dis- 
tinct groups of rocks, belonging respectively to Archaean, 
Cambrian, and Lower Silurian horizons. 
Geikie, Text-Book of Geol., p. 691. 
Quebec oak. See oak. 
quebracho (ke-brii'cho), . [Pg., contr. from 
gef>m-/Jrtc7M>,'ax-breaker'; so called in allusion 
to the hardness of the wood ; < quebrar, break, + 
hacha,facha, ax : see hatchet.] The name of sev- 
eral hard-wooded South American trees of eco- 
nomic value. The white quebracho (quebracho bianco) 
is Aspidosperma Quebracho, best known for its medicinal 
bark. (See quebracho bark, under bark'2.) The red que- 
bracho (quebracho Colorado) is Schinopsis (Loxopterygium) 
Lorenttit, of the La Plata region. Its wood and bark form 
an important tanning-material, veiy rapid in action, ex- 
ported to Europe in bulk and in extract. Its timber is ex- 
tremely hard and strong. Another quebracho is lodina 
rhomb(folia of the Santalacex (quebracho floja), its wood 
and bark being mixed with the last Quebracho gum, 
the dried juice or watery extract of Schinopsis Lorentzii, 
It is used for the relief of dyspnoea. 
quebrada (ke-bra'dii), n. [Sp., broken, uneven 
ground, prop. fern, of quebrado, pp. of quebrar, 
break.] A gorge; a ravine; a defile: a word 
occasionally used by writers in English on Mex- 
ican and South American physical geography, 
and by the Spanish Americans themselves, with 
about the same meaning as barranca. 
quecchet, *> *. A Middle English form of quitch 1 . 
quech (kwech), . Same as qiiaigh. [Scotch.] 
queckt, [Origin uncertain ; cf. querken.'} A 
blow (f). 
But what and the ladder slyppe, . . . 
And yf I fall I catche a quecke, 
I may fortune to breke my necke, . . . 
Nay, nay, not so ! 
Enterlude of Youth. (Halliwell.) 
queckshoest, . See quelquechose. 
quedt, <' and n. [ME., also quede, queed, quead, 
quad, quoad, queth, < AS. *cwsed = OFries. quad 
= MD. quaed, D. kwaad = MLG. quat, LG. 
i/iniiiil. bad ; otherwise found in the neuter, as a 
noun, AS. "cwsed, ciredd, filth, dung, = MD. 
quaed, (/uaet, quat, kat = OHG. quat, MHG. 
quat, kat. qiiot, kot, G. kot, koth, filth, dirt, 
mud.] I. . Bad; evil. 
II. n. 1. Evil; harm. 
of a king. 
Thursdaye, the laste daye of Apryll, to Lasheles, where 
lyethe quene Elyanour of Englonde, and in an abbey of her 
awne foundacyon. Sir Jt. Quylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 4. 
I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., v. 3. 117. 
2. A woman who is the sovereign of a realm; 
a female sovereign. In countries under monarchical 
rule females are sometimes excluded from the throne, and 
seldom if ever succeed in direct lineal descent. In the line 
of succession to the British throne the eldest son of the 
sovereign is the heir, to the exclusion of older sisters ; but 
a daughter who has no brothers succeeds, to the exclusion 
of younger brothers of her father or their male descen- 
dants. The exceptionally long reign of Queen Victoria 
(who succeeded in right of her deceased father, the Duke 
of Kent, to the exclusion of his younger brothers) has 
familiarized English-speaking communities of the present 
day with the form queen's instead of king's in such phrases 
as queen's counsel, the queen's English, etc. 
Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, 
Absolute queen. Shak., A. and C., iii. 6. 11. 
Now what I am ye know right well your Queen, 
To whom ... ye did promise full 
Allegiance and obedience to the death. 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, ii. 2. 
3. Figuratively, a woman who is chief or pre- 
eminent among others ; one who presides: as, 
queen of beauty; queen of the May (see May- 
queen). 
Venus, the queen of Love, was but thy figure, 
And all her graces prophecies of thine. 
Shirley, Traitor, iii. 3. 
Isabel, thro' all her placid life, 
The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife. 
Tennyson, Isabel. 
4. Hence, anything personified as chief or 
greatest, when considered as possessing female 
attributes. 
The Cathedrall Church of this Citie [Amiens] is dedi- 
cated to our Lady, being the very Queene of al the Churches 
in France. Coryat, Crudities, I. 15. 
Show this queen of cities that so fair 
May yet be foul. Camper, Task, i. 727. 
Seven hundred years and fifty-three 
Had Rome been growing up to might, 
And now was queen of land and sea. 
Domett, Christmas Hymn. 
5. In entom., a queen bee or queen ant. 6. A 
playing-card on which a queen is depicted. 
The knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts, 
And wins (oh shameful chance !) the Queen of Hearts. 
Pope, R. of the L., iii. 88. 
7. In chess, the piece which is by far the most 
powerful of all for attack. See chess 1 . Abbre- 
viated Q. 8. A variety of roofing-slate, mea- 
suring 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. Compare 
duchess, 2 Court of Queen's Bench. See Court of 
King's Bench, under court. Dollar queen, In apiculture, 
an untested queen bee, bred from a purely bred mother 
that has mated with one of her own race : so called be- 
cause the standard price was supposed to be one dol- 
lar. The price of dollar queens, however, varies from 75 
cents to $2. Phin, Diet, of Apiculture, p. 57. Keeper 
Of the Queen's prison. See Marshal of the King's 
(or Queens) Bench, under marshal. Marshal of the 
queen's household. See marshal. Problem of the 
queens. See problem. Queen Anne's bounty. See 
bounty. Queen Anne style, in arch., the style which 
obtained in England in the early part of the eighteenth 
century, and produced many commodious and dignified 
buildings, particularly in domestic architecture ; also, 
specifically, a nondescript style purporting to follow the 
queenfish 
above, and reproducing some of the exterior forms and 
ornaments of the original, much in vogue In the United 
States, especially for suburban cottages, from about 1880. 
Queen bee. See6ee. Queen closer, see closer^ (b). 
Queen consort, sec eomorti. Queen dowager, the 
widow of a deceased king. Queen mother, a queen 
dowager who is also mother of the reigning sovereign. 
Queen of heaven, (a) A title often given to the god- 
dess Astarte or Ashtoreth. 
The women knead their dough to make cakes to the 
mieen of heaven, . . . that they may provoke me to anger. 
Jer. vii. 18. 
With these in troop 
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd 
Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns. 
Milton, P. L., i. 439. 
(b) Among Roman Catholics, a title given to the Virgin 
Mary. Queen Of the May, a young girl crowned with 
flowers and enthroned as the central figure of the May-day 
sports. Queen regent, queen regnant, a queen who 
holds the crown in Tier own right, or a queen who reigns 
as regent. Queen's advocate. Same as lord advocate 
(which see, under advocate). Queen's color, in the Brit- 
ish aimy, one of the pair of colors belonging to every 
regiment. In the line it is a union jack charged with 
some regimental devices ; in the Guards it is a crimson 
flag, sometimes having the jack in the dexter chief, but 
always having the royal cipher and regimental devices. 
See color, and a pair of colors, under pairi. BouUll, English 
Heraldry. Queen's counsel, enemy, gambit. See 
counsel, etc. Queen's evidence. See Icing's evidence, 
under evidence. Queen's gap, a gap in a dam, a style 
of ftshway used in British waters. It has been occasion- 
ally used in America for alewives. In low dams it answers 
well for salmon. Queen's herbt, snuff : so called (in the 
latter part of the sixteenth century) because Catharine 
de' Medici acquired a taste for it soon after the introduc- 
tion of tobacco into France. Queen's keys. See keyt. 
Queen's messenger. See messenger. The queen's 
English. See English. The queen's peace. Seepeace. 
queen 1 (kwen), i: [< queen 1 , .] I. intrans. To 
play the queen; act the part or character of a 
queen ; domineer : with an indefinite it. 
A three-pence bpw'd would hire me, 
Old as I am, to queen it. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., ii. 3. 37. 
Xerxes went out of his way with his army to do homage 
to the great plane-tree that queened it in the desert alone. 
P. Robinson, Under the Sun, p. 85. 
II. trans. 1. In chess, to make a queen of: 
said of a pawn on its reaching the eighth square. 
2. In apiculture, to supply with a queen ; in- 
troduce a queen to: said 'of a colony of bees. 
Phin, Diet, of Apiculture, p. 57. 
queen 2 (kwen), n. Same as quin. 
In England one hears such names for scallops as " fan- 
shells," " frills," or "queens" in South Devon, according to 
Montagu : and on the Dorset coast the fishermen call them 
"squinus." Fisheries of U. S., V. ii. 665. 
queen-apple (kwen'ap'l), . Avariety of apple. 
The queen-apple is of the summer kind, and a good 
cider apple mixed with others. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
queen-cell (kwen'sel), n. The cell of a honey- 
comb destined for a queen or female larva. 
It is larger than the other cells, and generally placed on 
the edge of the comb, and is said to be provisioned with 
richer food, the so-called royal jelly. 
queen-conch (kwen'kongk), . The giant 
stromb or conch, Strombus gigas ; the fountain- 
shell, used to make conch-coral, porcelain, etc. 
queencraft (kwen'kraft), . Craft or skill in 
policy on the part of a queen; kingcraft as 
practised by a female sovereign. 
Elizabeth showed much queencraft in procuring the 
votes of the nobility. Fuller. 
Queen-day (kwen'da), n. The Feast of the An- 
nunciation of the Virgin Mary ; Lady-day. 
queendom (kwen'dum), . [< queen 1 + -dom.] 
1. The condition or character of a queen; 
queenly rule, power, or dignity. 
Will thy queendom all lie hid 
Meekly under either lid 1 
Mrs. Browning, The Dead Pan. 
2. The realm or the subjects of a queen. 
The mother sat at the head of the table, and regarded 
her queendom with a smile. 
George MacDonald, What's Mine's Mine, p. 9. 
[Bare in both uses.] 
queenfish (kwen'fish), n. A sciasnoid fish, 
Seriphus politus, found on the Pacific coast of 
the United States. It is a food-fish of good quality, 
but too small to be of much economic importance, reaching 
Queenfish (Striphus politus}. 
a length of only eight inches and a weight of half a pound. 
The body is compressed, and covered with rather large 
deriiliinus scales. The two dorsal fins are separate ; the 
