quarry

1 of 4

noun (1)

quar·​ry ˈkwȯr-ē How to pronounce quarry (audio)
ˈkwär-
plural quarries
1
: game
specifically : game hunted with hawks
2
: one that is sought or pursued : prey
3
obsolete : a heap of the game killed in a hunt

quarry

2 of 4

noun (2)

plural quarries
1
: an open excavation usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone
2
: a rich source

quarry

3 of 4

verb

quarried; quarrying

transitive verb

1
: to dig or take from or as if from a quarry
quarry marble
2
: to make a quarry in
quarry a hill

intransitive verb

: to delve in or as if in a quarry

quarry

4 of 4

noun (3)

plural quarries
: a diamond-shaped pane of glass, stone, or tile

Examples of quarry in a Sentence

Verb an area where workers are quarrying for limestone
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Several steps have been taken to bring an end to mining at the quarry, close the cement plant permanently and begin the process of reclamation and restoration. Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2024 Pebbles buried within a quarry in Ukraine along with stone tools found beneath layers of earth underwent analysis for radioactive particles locked inside the mineral grains. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 10 Mar. 2024 At the heart of all of our structures lies the Earth itself, cut up into pieces mined from vast quarries, broken down into smaller pieces, transported, assembled and eventually, demolished. Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Feb. 2024 Lithos uses waste material from quarries to minimize those kinds of impacts. Justine Calma, The Verge, 7 Dec. 2023 Now, thanks to the power of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of scientists has finally found that elusive quarry, confirming suspicions that the explosion created an extremely dense neutron star rather than a starlight-swallowing black hole. Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2024 The city was known then for the sparkling blue lakes that filled former quarries. Marc Santora Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024 The quarry’s old footprint is now American Family Field’s north parking lot and adjacent land underneath what's now State 175. Journal Sentinel, 30 Jan. 2024 As the plots of land sold, brick yards, sawmills, quarries, and other commercial and industrial ventures began to take over. Patrick C. Salland, Kansas City Star, 24 Jan. 2024
Verb
Starting in 1889, some 1 million tons of rock was quarried to help create a breakwater that led to the harbor. Jerry Rice, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024 Each honeycomb is framed with light-gray Woodbury granite from Vermont, and filling each frame is a slab of white, gray-veined marble, one-and-one-quarter-inch thick, quarried in Danby, not far from my home in Vermont. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 8 Feb. 2024 By some estimates, producing concrete releases nearly a pound of CO2 per pound of usable material; under the right conditions, stone for a wall can be gathered on-site or quarried nearby. Hannah Kirshner, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2023 Then, workers would have quarried the ditch around the statue later to complete the sphinx's body. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 14 Nov. 2023 Jade dust in the hair of those who quarry rough slabs of jade is not the definition of plenty. Alice Gribbin, The New York Review of Books, 2 Nov. 2023 One archaeological survey found 59 different places where obsidian was quarried in some fashion. Jim Robbins, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2023 Its polished limestone flooring was quarried in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, and wood for its doors was imported from the Congo River region. Jonathan Weil, WSJ, 16 July 2023 It’s known as Lasa marble, quarried in Italy and brought in by a Vermont importer. Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 1 Feb. 2023

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English quirre, querre entrails of game given to the hounds, from Anglo-French cureie, quereie, from quir, cuir skin, hide (on which the entrails were placed), from Latin corium — more at cuirass

Noun (2)

Middle English quarey, alteration of quarrere, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *quadraria, from Late Latin quadrus hewn (literally, squared) stone, from Latin quadrum square

Noun (3)

alteration of quarrel entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1774, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (3)

1537, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of quarry was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near quarry

Cite this Entry

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

Kids Definition

quarry

1 of 3 noun
quar·​ry ˈkwȯr-ē How to pronounce quarry (audio)
ˈkwär-
plural quarries
1
: an animal hunted as game or prey
2
: something sought or chased after

quarry

2 of 3 noun
plural quarries
: an open pit usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone

quarry

3 of 3 verb
quarried; quarrying
1
: to dig or take from or as if from a quarry
2
: to make a quarry in
quarrier noun
Etymology

Noun

Middle English querre "the part of a game animal given to the hounds," from early French cureie, quereie (same meaning), from cuir "skin, hide" (on which the animal parts were placed), from Latin corium (same meaning)

Noun

Middle English quarey, an altered form of quarrere "a place for digging stones for use in building," from Latin quadrus "hewn stone," literally, "squared stone," from Latin quadrum "a square"

Word Origin
The quarry a hunter chases is not related to the quarry that supplies building stones. The word for a hunter's quarry can be traced back to a ceremony that was once part of every successful hunt. The hounds used for chasing the game were rewarded after the kill by being allowed to eat part of the dead animal, which was given to them on a piece of hide. The French word for this hounds' share was cureie or quereie, which was borrowed into Middle English as querre. The word later came to be used for the live game animal itself. Now a quarry is anything that is pursued.

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