quarry

Meaning

Noun

A site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.

Verb

1. (transitive) To obtain (or mine) stone by extraction from a quarry.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To extract or slowly obtain by long, tedious searching.

Verb

To secure prey; to prey, as a vulture or harpy.

Synonyms

mine

prey

extract

pit

stone pit

target

fair game

capture

victim

produce

cut

excavate

gravel pit

drill

excavation

game

gold mine

grub

hole

🕳️

pick

⛏️

picking

pillage

plunder

prize

pump

quarryman

recover

slate

spoil

strip mine

swag

tile

unearth

opencast mine

racing course

rock quarry

cut and carry off

begin to talk

stone-pit

subterranean passage

ballast pit

diamond-shaped pane of glass

quarry glass

bag

open-pit mine

booty

break the ice

bring down

broach

career

Translations

carrière

Steinbruch

cava

cantera

proie

cava di pietra

Beute

preda

λατομείο

pedreira

prooi

presa

presa

pedrera

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkwɒɹ.i/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: quarere

Inherited from Middle English: quyrre

In summary

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 (“I square”), itself from quadra (“a square”), from quattuor (“four”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”).