quarry
Syllables: quar·ryUK/ˈkwɒɹ.i//ˈk(w)ɔɹ.i/
quarry noun: a site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
Noun (1)
quarry (plural quarries)
- A site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
- Michelangelo personally quarried marble from the world-famous quarry at Carrara.
- Yet theſe are the men cry'd out againſt for ſchiſmaticks and ſectaries; as if, while the Temple of the Lord was building, ſome cutting, ſome ſquaring the marble, others hewing the cedars, there ſhould be a ſort of irrationall men who could not conſider there muſt be many ſchiſms and many...1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 32
- Synonyms:
- delf
Verb (1)
quarry (third-person singular simple present quarries, present participle quarrying, simple past and past participle quarried)
- To obtain (or mine) stone by extraction from a quarry.
- The incloſing of this country might alſo be effected, were the landlord to quarry the ſtones, and build the walls at his expence, and the tenant to carry the materials, and pay intereſt for the money advanced by the landlord.1794, James Donaldson, “Miscellaneous Observations and Hints for Improvement”, in General View of the Agriculture of the County of Elgin or Moray, Lying between the Spey and the Findhorn; including...
- The stone of which this town and church was built, is somewhat of the nature of "rotten limestone,"—is quite light in color,—quarries out regularly and easily,—is soft, when first quarried, but becomes hard on exposure to the air.1847, George C. Furber, chapter IV, in The Twelve Months Volunteer; or, Journal of a Private in the Tennessee Regiment of Cavalry, in the Campaign in Mexico, 1846–7 … Engravings from Drawings by the...
- Synonyms:
- mine
- To extract or slowly obtain by long, tedious searching.
- They quarried out new, interesting facts about ancient Egypt from old papyri.
- The second part of Aristotle's work requires little description. […] It has been largely quarried by the grammarians and lexicographers of later ages, from whom modern students of Athenian antiquities have derived their information; […]1892, F[rederic] G[eorge] Kenyon, “Introduction”, in Aristotle, edited by F. G. Kenyon, ΑΘΗΝΑΙΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ [ATHĒNAIŌN POLITEIA]: Aristotle on the Constitution of Athens, 3rd rev. edition, Oxford...
Noun (2)
quarry (countable and uncountable, plural quarries)
- A part of the entrails of a hunted animal, given to the hounds as a reward.
- Quarry, among hunters, is ſometimes uſed for part of the viſcera of the beaſt taken; given by way of reward to the hounds.[1728, E[phraim] Chambers, “Quarry”, in Cyclopædia: Or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […] In Two Volumes, volumes II (I–Z), London: […] James and John Knapton [et al.], →OCLC, page...
- An animal, often a bird or mammal, which is hunted.
- Is it not our very Caſe now, that when our Souls, Good-Names, Bodies and Fortunes are at Stake, we muſt be running out at Check, after every Crow, Buzzard, or Jack-daw that comes in the way, and leave the main Chance at laſt at Six and Seven? Nay, and here's this more in't too, that the Quarry...1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[A Supplement of Fables […].] Fab[le] CCCCLXX. A Farmer and His Servant.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC...
- Nofi Raranta, 37, the town's main clove dealer, is also the top hunter, employing about a hundred men who comb the surrounding forests for quarry.2017 March, Jennifer S. Holland, “For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival”, in National Geographic, archived from the original on 03 May 2017
- An object of search or pursuit.
- In a verſe, when a worde of three ſillables cannot thruſt in but ſidelings, to joynt him even, we are oftentimes faine to borrowe ſome leſſer quarry of elocution from the Latine, alwaies retaining this for a principle, that a leake of indeſinence , as a leake in a ſhip, muſt needly be ſtopt with...1592, Tho[mas] Nashe, “The Foure Letters Confuted”, in Strange Newes, of the Intercepting Certaine Letters and a Convoy of Verses, […], London: […] Iohn Danter, […], →OCLC; republished in J[ohn]...
- Meanwhile his Ladie, which this outrage ſaw, / Whileſt they together for the quarrey ſtroue, / Into the couert did her ſelfe withdrw, / And cloſely hid her ſelfe within the groue.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 20, page 375
Verb (2)
quarry (third-person singular simple present quarries, present participle quarrying, simple past and past participle quarried)
- To secure prey; to prey, as a vulture or harpy.
- What's an Eternal Circulation of the ſame Things, as well as the ſame Steps, without Advancing one Inch of Ground towards his Journey's End, but Ixion in the Wheel? And all this while, with Cares, and Horrors at his Heart, like the Vultur that's Day and Night Quarrying upon Prometheus's Liver.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] VI. A Dog and a Shadow.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 6
Noun (3)
quarry (plural quarries)
- A diamond-shaped tile or pane, often of glass or stone.
- The boyes playing at ſtooleball, by chaunce broke a quarry of the glaſſe, whereupon he complayned to the Towneſhip, and either had, or did his utmoſt to haue the poor boy whipt, […]1615, Anthony Nixon, The Scovrge of Corruption. Or A Crafty Knave Needs No Broker, London: Printed at London, for Henry Gosson, and William Houlmes, and are to be sold at his shop in Popes-head...
- A window towards the eaſt (whoſe fractured quarries proclaimed the ravages of time) admitted a dim, ſhadowy light, over the whole manſion.1767 April, “a pen” [pseudonym], “The Adventures of a Pen”, in William Phorson, editor, The Berwick Museum, or, Monthly Literary Intelligencer. Being a View of the History, Politics, and Literature...
quarry meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
quarry in Hindi
- site for mining stone
- पाषाण खान pāṣāṇ khān, खादान khādān, खान khān
quarry in Tamil
- கற்சுரங்கம்
quarry in Marathi
- a quarry or earth pit
- गडद gaḍad
quarry in Urdu
- site for mining stone
- کھان khān, کَھدان khadān
More languagesFewer languages
- quarry in Bengali
- খনি khoni
- quarry in Telugu
- క్వారీ
- quarry in Malayalam
- ഖനി khani, ധാതു dhātu
- quarry in Kannada
- ಕಲ್ಲುಗಣೆ, ಬಂಡೆನೆಲೆ, ಶಿಲಾಶಯ, ಶಿಲಾಪಾತ್ರ
- quarry in Sanskrit
- खनि khaní
- quarry in Nepali
- क्वारी, क्वाॅरी
- quarry in Tagalog
- tibagan
- quarry in Arabic
- مَقْلَع maqlaʕ
- quarry in Malay
- kuari
- quarry in Indonesian
- tambang, tambang batu
- quarry in Persian
- استخراج estexrâj
- quarry in Thai
- เหมืองหิน mʉ̌ʉang-hǐn, ที่ขุดหิน
- quarry in Vietnamese
- mỏ đá
- quarry in Myanmar
- ကျောက်မိုင်း kyaukmuing:
Examples of quarry in a sentence
- There was a good quarry of limestone on the farm […]1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […]...
- In Lexington, which was just then establishing itself as the principal town in Kentucky, he found work quarrying stone for a tavern keeper.1999, Stephen A. Aron, “‘The Poor Men to Starve’: The Lives and Times of Workingmen in Early Lexington”, in Craig Thompson Friend, editor...
- Nay, and here's this more in't too, that the Quarry would not be worth the taking up neither, if we could Catch it; beſide, that it flies away ſtill before us, and is never to be Overtaken.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[A Supplement of Fables […].] Fab[le] CCCCLXX. A Farmer and His Servant.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent...
- Stones and his client voice reverence for what they call “fair chase”: an ethical distinction observed in certain sporting circles in which the quarry is felt to have a sporting chance of survival.2026 April 21, Cal Flyn, “On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife”, in The Guardian:
Synonyms of quarry
Forms of quarry
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | quarries |
| alternative form (obsolete) | currie |
| alternative form (obsolete) | curry |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | quarries |
| present participle | quarrying |
| past participle | quarried |
| past | quarried |
Origin of quarry
From Middle English quarere, from Medieval Latin quarreria (1266), literally a “place where stones are squared”, from Old French quarrière (compare modern French carrière), from Vulgar Latin *quadraria, from Latin quadrō (“to square”), itself from quadra (“a square”), from quattuor (“four”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”).
From Middle English quyrre, querre, quirre, from Anglo-Norman quiree (“entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward”) (influenced by cuir (“skin (of an animal)”), from Latin corium (“a hide”)), from coree (“entrails, viscera”), from Vulgar Latin corata (“entrails”), from Latin cor (“heart”).
Alteration of quarrel (“diamond-shaped piece of coloured glass forming part of a stained glass window; square tile”).
Words formed from quarry
Phrases with quarry
Words that rhyme with quarry
Questions about quarry
- What does quarry mean?
- Quarry means a site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
- What is quarry in Hindi?
- Quarry in Hindi is पाषाण खान (pāṣāṇ khān), खादान (khādān), खान (khān). See Quarry meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use quarry in a sentence?
- There was a good quarry of limestone on the farm […]
- What part of speech is quarry?
- Quarry can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce quarry?
- Quarry is pronounced /ˈkwɒɹ.i/ (UK).
- What is the plural of quarry?
- The plural of quarry is quarries.
Words near quarry in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: quarry (page history and authors); quarry (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); गडद (Marathi) (page history and authors); খনি (Bengali) (page history and authors); quarry (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ഖനി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); quarry (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); खनि (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); quarry (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-quarry.ogg, en-au-quarry.ogg.
Cite this entry: “quarry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quarry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.