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

Example Sentences

Trains depart every quarter hour.

I waited a quarter hour in line.

Recent Examples on the Web

There really seems to be no reason — beyond the fact that running times don’t seem to matter for Netflix — why Kill Boksoon lasts for two-and-a-quarter hours. —Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Feb. 2023

Thanks to the unique design of the new trains, passengers can remain in their comfortable seats throughout the three-and-a-quarter hour trip, immersing themselves in the ever-changing view through enormous panoramic windows. —Ben Jones, CNN, 9 Dec. 2022

See the 2022 Oscars telecast’s live viewership and ratings broken down by quarter hour below. —Jennifer Maas, Variety, 29 Mar. 2022

What time units are used: quarter hours, half hours? —Consumers’ Checkbook, SFChronicle.com, 30 May 2020

The two spent two and a quarter hours outside the spacecraft collecting moon matter while third team member, command module pilot Michael Collins, flew the command module Columbia in lunar orbit. —Luann Gibbs, Cincinnati.com, 16 July 2019

The period of totality — when the moon is in the darkest part of Earth's shadow — will last a bit more than one and a quarter hours, according to EarthSky.org. —David Freeman /, NBC News, 24 Jan. 2018

Clocks were rapidly developing in the Middle Ages and division into a rough quarter hour was imaginable. —Merrill Fabry, Time, 11 Jan. 2018

And viewership peaked with nearly 7 million viewers in the 6:30-6:45 quarter hour. —George Diaz, OrlandoSentinel.com, 17 Oct. 2017

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Word History

First Known Use

circa 1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

quarter hour

noun

1

: any of the quarter points of an hour

2

: 15 minutes