quarrying

quar·ry ¹  (kwôr, kwr)

n. pl. quar·ries

1.

a. A hunted animal; prey.

b. Hunted animals considered as a group; game.

2. An object of pursuit: The police lost their quarry in the crowd.

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[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 *corta, viscera, from Latin cor, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]

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quar·ry ²  (kwôr, kwr)

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.

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[Middle English quarey, from Medieval Latin quareria, quareia, alteration of Old French quarriere, from *quarre, cut stone, from Latin quadrum, square; see k^wetwer- in Indo-European roots.]

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quarri·er n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

quarrying - the extraction of building stone or slate from an open surface quarry production - (economics) manufacturing or mining or growing something (usually in large quantities) for sale; "he introduced more efficient methods of production" quarry - extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry; "quarry marble"