quarry
quarry Lexical Profile
quarry Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A large, deep pit or open excavation from which stone, slate, limestone, or other construction materials are extracted by cutting or blasting.
"The local limestone quarry supplied the pale stone used to construct the historic cathedral."
An animal, bird, or person that is eagerly pursued, hunted, or sought after.
"The falcon circled high above the valley before diving swiftly toward its quarry."
• verb
To extract stone, slate, or other minerals from an open pit or rock face.
"Workers have quarried fine white marble from these mountains for centuries."
To search laboriously through archives, manuscripts, or records to extract facts or information.
"The historian spent months quarrying through parish registers to reconstruct the village's demographics."
• Rhymes for quarry
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The word represents two distinct historical homographs: the 'excavation pit' sense derives from Medieval Latin quarreria (a place where stones are squared, from Latin quadrare, 'to square'), while the 'hunted prey' sense comes from Old French cuiriee, originally referring to the entrails of a slain deer placed on its hide (Latin corium) as a reward for hunting hounds.