See also: quất, quạt, quặt, quật, and quat'

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

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quat (plural quats)

  1. (obsolete) A pustule.
  2. (obsolete) An annoying, worthless person.

Verb

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quat (third-person singular simple present quats, present participle quatting, simple past and past participle quatted)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To satiate.
    • 1757, Samuel Foote, The Author, Act II, Scene ii, 1765, The Dramatic Works, Volume 1, page 28,
      Mrs. Cad. Well, come, begin and ſtart me, that I may come the ſooner to quatting——Huſh ! here′s Siſter ; what the deuce brought her !
  2. (Scotland, dialectal, transitive) To relinquish, forsake, give up.
    Ye hae grown proud since ye quatted the begging. — Scottish proverb, said satirically.
    • 1813, Hugh Porter, Poetical attempts, page 35:
      'Mang mis'ry's posts, whar I did sit, My tongue took sic a faltrin' fit, I thought the wee remains o' wit I had, was quat me
    • 1868, John Wilson, Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2:
      They seem to our ears indeed to have "quat their roaring play."
  3. (Wales and Southwest England, dialectal, intransitive) To squat or crouch down.
    • 1700, Ta Paidia Tēs Kythereias; Or, King's Place In An Uproar, page 10:
      Tho' B-lt-n, quatted in the hall, Her jolly r-mpfs display'd, The size of it amaz'd them all, and Hector quite dismay'd.
    • 1870, William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall:
      This cows' courant so excited the tinners' curiosity that they went up the hill till they saw the two men wrestling, with the women looking on; then they quatted (stooped) down in a brake of furze to watch the play without being seen.
    • 1932, Ernest Thompson Seton, Famous Animal Stories, page 678:
      Tarka quatted on the ledge ; he knew that Deadlock would follow hiin wherever he swam in water.
    • 2013, R. M. Lienau, The Truchas Light: A Novel, →ISBN, page 155:
      She quatted down next to him and rubbed his shoulder.

Adjective

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quat (not comparable)

  1. (Scotland, dialectal, with "of") Free; no longer involved with; quit.
    • 1838, Chambers's Journal, page 134:
      My word, I gie him nae encouragement ! I canna bide the sicht o' him, and wad gie the best gown I hae to be quat o' him."
    • 1861, Mrs. Oliphant, The House on the Moor:
      There it is, sir—Im blythe to be quat of it; pitch it from ye furder than I can see.
    • 1895, William Stewart, Lilts and Larks Frae Larkie, page 177:
      HECH me, but I'm weary, I'm heart-sick and sad ; O' my kinsfolk I've got quite a wamefu', I wush I was quat o' the d — nable squad — Forgi'e me for sweerin' sae shamefu'.

Etymology 2

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Clipping of quaternary.

Noun

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quat (plural quats)

  1. (chemistry) A quaternary ammonium cation or compound.
    • 2009 October 1, Hilary Howard, “New Ways to Moisturize for Less”, in The New York Times[1]:
      “Because quats are positively charged, and skin proteins have a slightly negative charge, quats like to attach themselves to skin,” said Greg Nole, a manager at Unilever, the parent company of Vaseline and Dove.

Adjective

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quat (not comparable)

  1. Quaternary.

Etymology 3

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See khat.

Noun

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quat (countable and uncountable, plural quats)

  1. Alternative spelling of khat.

Middle English

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Adjective

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quat

  1. Alternative form of wothe

Old High German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *kwād.

Noun

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quāt m

  1. mud
  2. dirt

Descendants

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  • Middle High German: quāt, kāt, quōt, kōt