quarter hour

noun

1

: fifteen minutes

2

: any of the quarter points of an hour

3

: a unit of academic credit representing an hour of class (such as lecture class) or three hours of laboratory work each week for an academic quarter

Examples of quarter hour in a Sentence

Trains depart every quarter hour.

I waited a quarter hour in line.

Recent Examples on the Web

The minute repeater mechanism is set into action via a slide on the left-hand side of the case to strike the hours at a low pitch, the quarter hours at a double tone, and the minutes that have elapsed since the last hour with a higher pitch tone. —Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 1 Apr. 2025

Inauguration viewing peaked overall in the 12:15 p.m. Eastern quarter hour at 34.4 million, falling short of the 40 million viewers who watched Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take the oath of office in 2021. —Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2025

Viewership peaked in the 12:15 quarter hour, as Trump was giving his inaugural address. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 21 Jan. 2025

Viewership soared to 22M, once again in line with last year, in the midnight quarter hour as the ball dropped in Times Square. —Katie Campione, Deadline, 2 Jan. 2025

Unlike conventional minute repeaters, which chime the hours, quarter hours, and minutes, this one sounds the hours, 10-minute intervals, and minutes. —Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 10 Dec. 2023

The 2022 telecast attracted 13.8 million total viewers, with a 5.3 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic in the midnight quarter hour. —Joe Otterson, Variety, 20 Nov. 2023

Unlike traditional minute repeaters, which chime the hours, quarter hours, and minutes to audibly tell the time, the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater chimes the hours, 10-minute intervals, and minutes. —Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 24 Oct. 2023

For the unversed, classic minute repeaters chime the hour, quarter hours, and minutes, but the decimal variation strikes tones for the hours, the tens of minutes, and the single minutes. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 28 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for quarter hour

• airpower
• brainpower
• devour
• empower
• firepower
• horsepower
• manpower
• mayflower
• safflower
• sunflower
• wallflower
• watchtower

Kids Definition

quarter hour

noun

1

: any of the quarter points of an hour

2

: 15 minutes