What It Means
A quote is the current bid and ask price — and usually the last-traded price too — shown together for a stock or contract, giving you a real-time snapshot of what the market will pay and what it wants to be paid.
How It Works
A full market quote typically shows more than just one bid and ask: most trading terminals display "market depth," the top five bid and ask prices with the quantity waiting at each, giving a sense of how much buying or selling pressure sits just above and below the current price. Reading the quote before placing an order — not just the last-traded price — is what tells you whether a market order will fill close to what you expect, or whether the depth is thin enough that you'd be better off using a limit order instead.