quarrying

noun

quar·​ry·​ing ˈkwȯr-ē-iŋ How to pronounce quarrying (audio)
ˈkwär-
: the business, occupation, or act of extracting useful material (such as building stone) from quarries

Examples of quarrying in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The area’s state representative, Jonathan Fritz, said an overwhelming number of his constituents favor natural gas drilling, an important economic engine in a county where farming, logging and bluestone quarrying were primary industries. Michael Rubinkam, Fortune, 20 Dec. 2023 Lucrative businesses such as sand and gravel quarrying and sightseeing tours have also thrived openly despite the ban and the mountain’s frequent eruptions — now 53 times on record since 1616. Jim Gomez, Anchorage Daily News, 20 June 2023 Canada’s mining job vacancy rates have been trending upward since 2015 to a peak last summer of around 4% in mining and quarrying jobs and slightly over 6% for mining support activities. Yusuf Khan, WSJ, 1 June 2023 The first fossil evidence of Neandertals was found in 1856 during quarrying activities from the Neander Tal (Neander Valley) in Germany. Brian Anthony Keeling, The Conversation, 2 May 2023 Granite quarrying is a top local industry. Hartford Courant, 6 July 2022 For the month of August, continued claims of unemployment in North Dakota were nearly 100,000, and about a quarter of those were tied directly to mining, quarrying and oil & gas extraction — the highest unemployment of any sector in the state. Jeff Berardelli, CBS News, 25 Sep. 2020 Within a few weeks, Christian had wired money to the bank and brought in a wooden model of the monument, and the quarrying and construction had begun. Jill Neimark, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2013 Much of the region’s economy withered after the Civil War, with changes in transportation, refrigeration, and construction technologies triggering a collapse in granite quarrying, shipbuilding, logging, fishing, and ice-harvesting. Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quarrying.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1828, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of quarrying was circa 1828

Dictionary Entries Near quarrying

Cite this Entry

“Quarrying.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quarrying. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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