rabbi:

(plural: ‘rabbis‘ & less commonly: ‘rabbanim‘; pronunciation: the last letters ‘bbi’ rhyme with the word “buy” or “by”)

(in Jewish religion) a person qualified and trained in Jewish law, religious practices and Jewish tradition, and is eligible to teach Jewish religion and law; a Jewish priest,

previous / next

quorum:

(a group word for…)

the minimum number of people/members/officers in an assembly or meeting of a society, organisation, business, board of directors’ discussions, etc. necessary to be present to elect someone or to make any important decisions;

a stated number of persons/members without whom a meeting cannot be held;

a select group in an organisation, company, etc.,

e.g.

Yesterday’s club meeting to elect the new president was postponed to next Sunday because the quorum of 50 was not formed.  (i.e. to elect a new president of the club, the meeting must be attended by a minimum number of fifty permanent club members, but last night there were only thirty-eight members present, so the election procedure was postponed)

In general, thirty-five per cent of the elected members form a quorum at any council meeting of our town council.

<<< Back to List Q /  Next   rabbi >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

quitter:

(plural: ‘quitters‘; the words opposite in meaning to quitter: ‘doer‘, ‘go-getter‘, ‘achiever‘)

{‘to quit’ = to stop/give up doing something permanently}

a person who gives up doing something very easily;

a person who stops doing some task or venture permanently just because it is difficult or demanding;

a loser; a deserter,

e.g.

I never thought Richard was such a quitter; he gave up his university studies right in the middle of the first semester just because he had to work a little harder.

<<< Back to List Q /  Next   quorum >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

quisling:

(plural: ‘quislings‘)

any person who helps his/her enemy country against his/her own country;

a collaborator; a traitor,

e.g.

Major Gerald has been a quisling, and needs to be hanged for helping our enemies by passing to them the top secret military documents.

In war times there is bound to be some chaos, and in that chaos, several innocent people are treated as quislings and are punished brutally!

{Note: ‘Quisling’, always with a capital ‘Q’, is often found in the names of people, especially European names. In fact, the present usage of this word for a traitor or collaborator is named after a Norwegian politician and army officer, called Vidkum Quisling, who helped Nazi Germans in 1945.}

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  quitter >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

quintuplet:

(in short: ‘quints‘; plural: ‘quintuplets‘; pronunciation: please listen to the video you see on the right of this text)

Apart from other meanings/definitions related to five…

one of the five babies born to the same mother at the same time, i.e. the mother giving birth to all the five babies, one after the other, of course, in one birth,

e.g.

In cases of multiple birth, twins are the most common, triplets and quadruplets are rare and quintuplets are rarer.

All my aunt’s quintuplets look healthy, and the doctors are optimistic that all of them will survive!

{Note: The general names given to the number of babies born in cases of multiple births: twins = two babies; triplets =  three babies; quadruplets = four babies; quintuplets = five babies; sextuplets = six babies; septuplets = seven babies, octuplets = eight babies, nonuplets = nine babies; and decaplets = ten babies; undecaplets = eleven babies; duodecaplets = twelve babies; tredecaplets = thirteen babies; quattrodecaplets = fourteen babies; and quindecaplets = fifteen babies.}

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  quisling >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

quibbler:

(plural: ‘quibblers‘)

a person who argues about small and unimportant points;

a person who argues about a small point, often to avoid giving an honest answer to a question;

a person who raises silly and petty, often annoying, objections,

e.g.

Sam is being very difficult these days! He says he doesn’t like to be a quibbler, but comes up with some silly objection to every proposal we propose in the committee!

My neighbours are a nice pair of quibblers. We’re tired of their quibbling over silly things … day and night.

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  quintuplet >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

question master:

(also, in American usage: ‘quizmaster‘; plural: ‘question masters‘)

(in British usage) a qualified person who puts questions to contestants/participants on a quiz show or panel game on the radio or TV (also called ‘host’ or ‘chairman’ of quiz show or panel game),

e.g.

Several of the contestants in the last night’s ‘TV Quiz Show’ on  Channel 09 complained that the question master’s pronunciation was very strange and hard to follow.

A question master/quiz master must have at least some basic knowledge in the subject that he asks the participants.

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  quibbler >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

questioner:

(plural: ‘questioners‘; the word opposite in meaning: ‘answerer‘)

a person who asks questions, makes an inquiry, etc.; an asker; an interrogator;

a person who asks the participants relevant questions in a debate, quiz programme, or in some contest,

e.g.

Any questioner is requested to give the question(s) in writing and give some time to get their answers.

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  question master >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

queer:

(plural: ‘queers‘)

a homosexual person, i.e. a man who likes to have sex with another man, or a woman who likes to have sex with another woman;

a gay; a lesbian,

e.g.

Daniel is a queer… he’s known to visit gay clubs.

These days, homosexual call themselves ‘queers’ to have their own identity.

{Note 1: This word, as a noun, is an insult to some people and so care should be taken not to use it in public; however, some of the homosexuals use it to identify themselves, but it is advisable for an ordinary person not to use it in any situation.}

{Note 2: ‘Queer’ is used more commonly as an adjective to refer people or things that are strange or crazy, or that look strange, weired, different or extreme — just out of ordinary, suspicious, etc., and, in some cases, to refer to those who are ill or keeping bad health, who feels giddy, etc.,  e.g. “I saw a queer thing lying on the ground.”, “The old woman looked so queer with her strange clothes that I was scared even to talk to her.”, “She requested us to take her to a hospital because she was feeling queer.”}

Compare:

1. He is a queer. (i.e. he is a homosexual; he is a gay — ‘queer’ used as a noun)

2. He seems queer. (i.e. he looks different, strange, out of ordinary, etc. — ‘queer’ used as an adjective)

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  questioner >>>

<<< Back to main page

previous / next

queen:

(plural: ‘queens‘)

Apart from several other meanings/definitions…

the present queen of Britian, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I

the wife or widow of a king;

a female ruler of a kingdom, like a female king;

(in slang usage) a homosexual man;

a woman who does not belong to any royal blood, position or family but is beautiful, influential and daring  and controls a lot of power in a society or in a particular field or organisation,

e.g.

Elizabeth II is the present Queen of Britain.

In the past, most kings had more than one queen.  (i.e. in the past kings used to marry several wives)

______________________________

queen mother:

(plural: ‘queen mothers‘)

the mother of a ruling queen or king of a kingdom;

(in some African societies) the mother of a king and rules the land alongside her son,

e.g.

When the Queen Mother of Britain died in 2002, the entire world grieved and showed respects to the great lady.

______________________________

For an interesting and informative article on the difference between queen consort, queen mother, etc., please click here.

<<< Back to List Q /  Next  queer >>>

<<< Back to main page