quirt
English
Etymology
From Spanish cuerda (“cord”), or Mexican Spanish cuarta (“whip”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /kwɜːt/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /kwɚt/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)t
Noun
quirt (plural quirts)
- A rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide.
- about 1900, O. Henry, Hygeia at the Solito
- He sprang into the saddle easily as a bird, got the quirt from the horn, and gave his pony a slash with it.
- 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 3, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
- He paused a moment and flicked a sage-brush with his quirt.
- 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter I:
- […] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]
- 1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC:
- He wore a revolver down low, with ammunition belt, and carried a small quirt of some kind, and pieces of leather hanging everywhere, like a walking torture chamber: shiny shoes, low-hanging jacket, cocky hat, everything but boots.
- 1973, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Don't Point That Thing at Me, Penguin (2001), page 96:
- She raised the handle of her beautiful quirt to her eyes and scanned the Western horizon.
- 1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing:
- He rode his horse with the reins tied and he wore a pistol at his belt and a plain flatcrowned hat of a type no longer much seen in that country and he wore tooled boots to his knees and carried a quirt.
- about 1900, O. Henry, Hygeia at the Solito
Translations
a rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide
Verb
quirt (third-person singular simple present quirts, present participle quirting, simple past and past participle quirted)
- To strike with a quirt.
Synonyms
- (to whip or scourge): Thesaurus:whip