quirk Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a strange attitude or habit
    crotchet; quirkiness; queerness; oddity.
  2. noun a narrow groove beside a beading
  3. verb twist or curve abruptly
    • She quirked her head in a peculiar way

WordNet

Quirk noun
Etymology
Cf W. chwiori to turn briskly, or E. queer.
Definitions
  1. A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger. "Some quirk or . . . evasion." Spenser.
    We ground the justification of our nonconformity on dark subtilties and intricate quirks. Barrow.
  2. A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice. Obs. "Quirks of joy and grief." Shak.
  3. A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
    Some odd quirks and remnants of wit. Shak.
  4. An irregular air; as, light quirks of music. Pope.
  5. (Building) A piece of ground taken out of any regular ground plot or floor, so as to make a court, yard, etc.; -- sometimes written quink. Gwilt.
  6. (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex rounded molding.

Webster 1913