quart

 
Pronunciation: /kwɔːt/

noun

  • 1a unit of liquid capacity equal to a quarter of a gallon or two pints, equivalent in Britain to approximately 1.13 litres and in the US to approximately 0.94 litre: two quarts of milk
  • North American a unit of dry capacity equivalent to approximately 1.10 litres.
  • 2 /kɑːt/ (also quarte or carte) Fencing the fourth of eight parrying positions.
  • 3(in piquet) a sequence of four cards of the same suit.

Phrases

you can't get a quart into a pint pot

British proverb you cannot achieve the impossible.

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French quarte, from Latin quarta (pars) 'fourth (part)', from quartus 'fourth', from quattuor 'four'