While sports fishing off the Florida coast, a tourist capsized his boat. He could swim, but his fear of alligators kept him clinging to the overturned craft.
Spotting and old beachcomber standing on the shore, the tourist shouted,
"Are there any gators around here?!"
"Naw," the man hollered back, "they ain"t been around for years!"
Feeling safe, the tourist started swimming leisurely toward the shore.
About halfway there he asked the guy,
"How"d you get rid of the gators?"
"We didn"t do nothin"," the beachcomber said. "The sharks got "em."
- thing sought, esp. By a medieval knight. —v. (often foll. By about) go about in search of something (esp. Of dogs seeking game). [latin quaero quaesit- seek]
QUEUE
—n. Line or sequence of persons, vehicles, etc. Waiting their turn. —v. (queues, queued, queuing or queueing) (often foll. By up) form or join a queue. [latin cauda tail]
QUICK
one n. Colloq. Drink (usu. Alcoholic) taken quickly.
- —adj. - taking only a short time (quick worker).
- arriving after a short time, prompt.
- with only a short interval (in quick succession).
- lively, intelligent, alert.
- (of a temper) easily roused.
- archaic alive (the quick and the dead). —adv. (also as int.) Quickly. —n. - soft sensitive flesh, esp. Below the nails.
- seat of emotion (cut to the quick). quickly adv. [old english]
QUIET
—adj. - with little or no sound or motion.
- of gentle or peaceful disposition.
- unobtrusive; not showy.
- not overt; disguised.
- undisturbed, uninterrupted; free or far from vigorous action.
- informal (quiet wedding).
- enjoyed in quiet (quiet smoke).
- not anxious or remorseful.
- not busy (it is very quiet at work). 10 peaceful (all quiet on the frontier). —n. - silence; stillness.
- undisturbed state; tranquillity. —v. (often foll. By down) make or become quiet or calm. be quiet (esp. In imper.) Cease talking etc.
QUIFF
n. 1 man's tuft of hair, brushed upward over the forehead.
- curl plastered down on the forehead. [origin unknown]
QUILL
n. - (in full quill-feather) large feather in a wing or tail.
- hollow stem of this.
- (in full quill pen) pen made of a quill.
- (usu. In pl.) Porcupine's spine. [probably low german quiele]
QUILT
—n. Coverlet, esp. Of quilted material. —v. Line a coverlet or garment with padding enclosed between layers of cloth by lines of stitching. quilter n. Quilting n. [latin culcita cushion]
QUIRE
n. 25 (formerly 24) sheets of paper. [latin: related to *quaternary]
QUIRK
n. - peculiar feature, peculiarity.
- trick of fate. quirky adj. (-ier, -iest). [origin unknown]
QUITE
adv. - completely, entirely, wholly.
- to some extent, rather.
- (often foll. By so) said to indicate agreement. quite a (or some) remarkable or outstanding (thing). Quite a few colloq. A fairly large number of. Quite something colloq. Remarkable thing or person. [var. Of *quit]
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