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quarry - 16 dictionary results

quar⋅ry

1[kwawr-ee, kwor-ee] noun, plural -ries, verb, -ried, -ry⋅ing.
–noun
1. an excavation or pit, usually open to the air, from which building stone, slate, or the like, is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc.
2. an abundant source or supply.
–verb (used with object)
3. to obtain (stone) from or as if from a quarry.
4. to make a quarry in.

Origin:
1375–1425; ME quarey (n.) < ML quareia, var. of quareria < OF quarriere < VL *quadrāria place where stone is squared, deriv. of L quadrāre to square


quar⋅ri⋅a⋅ble, quar⋅ry⋅a⋅ble, adjective

quar⋅ry

2[kwawr-ee, kwor-ee]
–noun, plural -ries.
1. an animal or bird hunted or pursued.
2. game, esp. game hunted with hounds or hawks.
3. any object of search, pursuit, or attack.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME querre < OF cuiree, deriv. of cuir skin, hide < L corium

quar⋅ry

3[kwawr-ee, kwor-ee]
–noun, plural -ries.
1. a square stone or tile.
2. quarrel 2 (def. 2).

Origin:
1545–55; n. use of obs. quarry (adj.) square < OF quarre < L quadrātus quadrate

quar⋅rel

2[kwawr-uhl, kwor-]
–noun
1. a square-headed bolt or arrow, formerly used with a crossbow.
2. Also, quarry. a small, square or diamond-shaped pane of glass, as used in latticed windows.
3. any of various tools with pyramidal heads.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME quarel < OF < ML quadrellus, dim. of L quadrus square
quar·ry 1   (kwôr'ē, kwŏr'ē)   
n.   pl. quar·ries
    1. A hunted animal; prey.
    2. Hunted animals considered as a group; game.
  1. An object of pursuit: The police lost their quarry in the crowd.

[Middle English querre, entrails of a deer given to hounds as a reward, from Old French cuiriee, alteration (influenced by cuir, skin) of coree, from Vulgar Latin *corāta, viscera, from Latin cor, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]
quar·ry 2   (kwôr'ē, kwŏr'ē)   
n.   pl. quar·ries
  1. An open excavation or pit from which stone is obtained by digging, cutting, or blasting.
  2. A rich or productive source: found the book an indispensable quarry of information.
tr.v.   quar·ried, quar·ry·ing, quar·ries
  1. To obtain (stone) from a quarry, as by cutting, digging, or blasting.
  2. To extract (facts, for example) by long, careful searching: finally quarried out the genealogy from hundreds of sources.
  3. To use (land) as a quarry.

[Middle English quarey, from Medieval Latin quareria, quareia, alteration of Old French quarriere, from *quarre, cut stone, from Latin quadrum, square; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots.]
quar'ri·er n.
quar·ry 3   (kwôr'ē, kwŏr'ē)   
n.   pl. quar·ries
  1. A square or diamond shape.
  2. A pane of glass having this shape.

[Variant of quarrel2.]

Quarry

Quar"ry\, n. [OE. quarre, OF. quarr['e] square, F. carr['e], from L. quadratus square, quadrate, quadratum a square. See Quadrate, and cf. Quarrel an arrow.] Same as 1st Quarrel. [Obs.] --Fairfax.

Quarry

Quar"ry\, a. [OF. quarr['e].] Quadrate; square. [Obs.]

Quarry

Quar"ry\, n.; pl. Quarries. [OE. querre, OF. cuiri['e]e, F. cur['e]e, fr. cuir hide, leather, fr. L. corium; the quarry given to the dogs being wrapped in the akin of the beast. See Cuirass.]

1. (a) A part of the entrails of the beast taken, given to the hounds. (b) A heap of game killed.

2. The object of the chase; the animal hunted for; game; especially, the game hunted with hawks. "The stone-dead quarry." --Spenser.

The wily quarry shunned the shock. --Sir W. Scott.

Quarry

Quar"ry\, v. i. To secure prey; to prey, as a vulture or harpy. --L'Estrange.

Quarry

Quar"ry\, n. [OE. quarrere, OF. quariere, F. carri[`e]re, LL. quadraria a quarry, whence squared (quadrati) stones are dug, fr. quadratus square. See Quadrate.] A place, cavern, or pit where stone is taken from the rock or ledge, or dug from the earth, for building or other purposes; a stone pit. See 5th Mine (a) .

Quarry

Quar"ry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Quarried; p. pr. & vb. n. Quarrying.] To dig or take from a quarry; as, to quarry marble.
Language Translation for : quarry
Spanish: cantera,
German: der Steinbruch,
Japanese: 石切り場

quarry  (1)
"what is hunted," c.1320, quirre "entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward," from Anglo-Fr. quirreie, from O.Fr. cuiriee, altered (by influence of O.Fr. cuir "skin," from L. corium "hide"), from O.Fr. corée "viscera, entrails," from V.L. *corata "entrails," from L. cor "heart." Sense of "anything chased in hunt" is first recorded 1615; earlier "bird targeted by a hawk or other raptor" (1486).

quarry  (2)
"where rocks are excavated," c.1400, from M.L. quarreria (1266), lit. "place where stones are squared," from L. quadrare "to square" (see quadrant). The verb is attested from 1774.

quarry

place where dimension stone or aggregate (sand, gravel, crushed rock) is mined. The products of dimension stone quarries are prismatic blocks of rock such as marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and slate. After cutting and polishing, these materials are used in the primary construction of buildings and monuments and also for decorative facing materials applied to the exterior and interior of buildings. Dimension stones are extracted in a highly selective manner, using time-consuming and expensive methods for freeing the blocks from the surrounding rock

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