quirk

quirk
    n 1: a strange attitude or habit [syn: {oddity}, {queerness},
         {quirk}, {quirkiness}, {crotchet}]
    2: a narrow groove beside a beading
    v 1: twist or curve abruptly; "She quirked her head in a
         peculiar way"
    

Quirk \Quirk\ (kw[~e]rk), n. [Written also {querk}.] [Cf. W.
   chwiori to turn briskly, or E. queer.]
   1. A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence,
      an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as,
      the quirks of a pettifogger. "Some quirk or . . .
      evasion." --Spenser.
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            We ground the justification of our nonconformity on
            dark subtilties and intricate quirks. --Barrow.
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   2. A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice. [Obs.] "Quirks
      of joy and grief." --Shak.
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   3. A smart retort; a quibble; a shallow conceit.
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            Some odd quirks and remnants of wit.  --Shak.
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   4. An irregular air; as, light quirks of music. --Pope.
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   5. (Building) A piece of ground taken out of any regular
      ground plot or floor, so as to make a court, yard, etc.;
      -- sometimes written quink. --Gwilt.
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   6. (Arch.) A small channel, deeply recessed in proportion to
      its width, used to insulate and give relief to a convex
      rounded molding.
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   {Quirk molding}, a bead between two quirks.
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121 Moby Thesaurus words for "quirk":
      aberration, anamorphism, anamorphosis, aroma, asymmetry, attribute,
      badge, boutade, brainstorm, brand, buckle, cachet, capriccio,
      caprice, cast, cavil, character, characteristic, conceit,
      configuration, contortion, crank, craze, crazy idea, crookedness,
      crotchet, cut, detorsion, deviation, differentia, differential,
      disproportion, distinctive feature, distortion, dodge, earmark,
      eccentricity, fad, fancy, fantastic notion, fantasy, feature,
      figure, flavor, flimflam, fool notion, freak, freakish inspiration,
      gnarl, gust, habit, hallmark, harebrained idea, humor, idiocrasy,
      idiosyncrasy, imbalance, impress, impression, index, individualism,
      irregularity, jesuitism, keynote, kink, knot, lineaments,
      lopsidedness, maggot, mannerism, mark, marking, megrim, minauderie,
      mold, nature, notion, oddity, odor, particularity, passing fancy,
      peculiar trait, peculiarity, property, quality, quibble, quiddity,
      quillet, quip, quodlibet, savor, screw, seal, shape, shuffle,
      singularity, smack, specialty, stamp, taint, tang, taste, token,
      torsion, tortuosity, toy, trademark, trait, trick,
      trick of behavior, turn, twist, unsymmetry, vagary, warp, whim,
      whim-wham, whimsy, wrench, wrest, wring