quarter-jack

Noun

quarter jack (plural quarter jacks)

1. An automaton, on a clock, that strikes a bell every quarter hour
   • From the interior face of the west wall of the tower projected a little canopy with a quarter-jack and small bell beneath it, the automaton being driven by the same clock machinery that struck the large bell in the tower.1905, Thomas Hardy, Works, Harper, Far From the Madding Crowd, page 130