~ 1 [ kwα:k , kwɔ:k ]
■ noun Physics any of a group of subatomic particles carrying a fractional electric charge, postulated as building blocks of the hadrons.
Origin
1960s: invented by the American physicist Murray Gell-Mann and assoc. with the line ‘Three ~s for Muster Mark’ in Joyce's Finnegans Wake (1939).
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~ 2 [ kwα:k ]
■ noun a type of low-fat curd cheese.
Origin
1930s: from Ger. Quark 'curd, curds'.