noun

quarry

KWOR-ee

noun

A large open pit where stone, sand, or similar material is dug out of the ground.

"The old quarry is now filled with water and used for swimming."

"Marble for the statue was cut from a quarry in Italy."

An animal or person being hunted or pursued.

"The hawk circled above its quarry."

"The detective's quarry had already slipped out of the city."

verb

To dig stone or other material out of the ground.

"Workers quarried granite here for over a century."

"The company quarries limestone for cement production."

How to Use Quarry

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishEither a stone-digging pit, or prey being chased — context makes clear which.

Common pairings

stone quarry disused quarry quarry workers

Word Forms

quarried past tense, quarried past tense, quarries plural, quarries plural, quarries plural, quarries singular, quarries singular

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

The old _____ is now filled with water and used for swimming.

Etymology

The stone-pit sense traces to Latin quadrare, "to square" (referring to squared-off blocks of stone); the hunted-animal sense comes from a separate Old French word for the parts of a kill fed to hunting dogs.

Synonyms

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mark prey target

Related Words

attention dupe note mark goal object purpose target

Rhymes for quarry

carry marry Barry harry Larry parry tarry Garry starry remarry McGarry

See all rhymes for quarry →

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