Sentence:  And with a prolonged sound, not <WSD>quite</WSD> a sniff and not <WSD>quite</WSD> a snort, he trod on Euphemia's toe, and went out, leaving a sensation and a faint scent of barley−sugar behind him. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Preceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article. Chiefly in negative constructions. (from 16th c.)