Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A riding whip with a short, stiff handle and a lash made of two or more loose thongs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To strike or flog with a quirt.
  • noun A kind of riding-whip much used in the western parts of the United States and in Spanish-American countries.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide.
  • verb To strike with a quirt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun whip with a leather thong at the end

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from American Spanish cuarta, whip, ultimately from Latin quārta, fourth; see quart.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Spanish cuerda ‘cord’, or Mexican Spanish cuarta ‘whip’.

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Examples

  • There he found his father at the table, braiding rawhide strands to make a riding whip called a quirt.

    Plain Language Barbara Wright 2007

  • There he found his father at the table, braiding rawhide strands to make a riding whip called a quirt.

    Plain Language Barbara Wright 2007

  • There he found his father at the table, braiding rawhide strands to make a riding whip called a quirt.

    Plain Language Barbara Wright 2007

  • There he found his father at the table, braiding rawhide strands to make a riding whip called a quirt.

    Plain Language Barbara Wright 2007

  • Mexican saddle, cinched it tight without mercy, then mounted with a slam over of a leather-trousered leg, let the almost crazy horse go like the wind, and if he slackened his speed, spurs or "quirt," perhaps both, drove him on again.

    Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888 Frances Marie Antoinette Mack Roe

  • This scene may relate to an incident in which Rain-in-the-Face is said to have saved the daughter of the Upper Yanktonai Black Prairie Dog by extending his quirt to her and swinging her up onto his horse when their camp was attacked by the U.S. Army.

    Lee Rosenbaum: Native Americans, Brooklyn-Style: Family-Friendly, Deeply Informative "Tipi" Show Lee Rosenbaum 2011

  • This scene may relate to an incident in which Rain-in-the-Face is said to have saved the daughter of the Upper Yanktonai Black Prairie Dog by extending his quirt to her and swinging her up onto his horse when their camp was attacked by the U.S. Army.

    Lee Rosenbaum: Native Americans, Brooklyn-Style: Family-Friendly, Deeply Informative "Tipi" Show Lee Rosenbaum 2011

  • Forrest lifted his right hand, the quirt dangling from wrist, the straight forefinger touching the rim of his Baden Powell in semi-military salute.

    CHAPTER II 2010

  • This scene may relate to an incident in which Rain-in-the-Face is said to have saved the daughter of the Upper Yanktonai Black Prairie Dog by extending his quirt to her and swinging her up onto his horse when their camp was attacked by the U.S. Army.

    Lee Rosenbaum: Native Americans, Brooklyn-Style: Family-Friendly, Deeply Informative "Tipi" Show Lee Rosenbaum 2011

  • This scene may relate to an incident in which Rain-in-the-Face is said to have saved the daughter of the Upper Yanktonai Black Prairie Dog by extending his quirt to her and swinging her up onto his horse when their camp was attacked by the U.S. Army.

    Lee Rosenbaum: Native Americans, Brooklyn-Style: Family-Friendly, Deeply Informative "Tipi" Show Lee Rosenbaum 2011

Comments

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  • "If I do," he said to himself, "I'll ride the buckskin." The buckskin was a half-broken broncho that fought like a fiend under the saddle until the quirt and spur brought her to her senses.

    - Frank Norris, The Octopus, ch. 2

    August 9, 2008

  • "I scored big with 'quirt,' (speaking about playing Scrabble) and he stuck his tongue out at me." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris

    February 5, 2011