What does "quarry" mean?
A site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
Quarry
/ˈkwɒɹ.i/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
- Grammar: quarry is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: prey, target, stone pit, abysm.
- Useful contrasts: predator, release, spare.
- Usage evidence: There is a rock quarry just north of town.
How to use "quarry"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "quarry" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "quarry" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "quarry" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "quarry" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "quarry" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "prey" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "quarry", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
"Michelangelo personally quarried marble from the world-famous quarry at Carrara."
- 2 A part of the entrails of a hunted animal, given to the hounds as a reward. obsolete, uncountable
"Quarry, among hunters, is ſometimes uſed for part of the viſcera of the beaſt taken; given by way of reward to the hounds."
- 3 A diamond-shaped tile or pane, often of glass or stone.
"The boyes playing at ſtooleball, by chaunce broke a quarry of the glaſſe, whereupon he complayned to the Towneſhip, and either had, or did his utmoſt to haue the poor boy whipt, […]"
- 4 animal hunted or caught for food wordnet
- 5 An animal, often a bird or mammal, which is hunted. uncountable
"Is it not our very Caſe now, that when our Souls, Good-Names, Bodies and Fortunes are at Stake, we muſt be running out at Check, after every Crow, Buzzard, or Jack-daw that comes in the way, and leave the main Chance at laſt at Six and Seven? Nay, and here's this more in't too, that the Quarry would not be worth the taking up neither, if we could Catch it; beſide, that it flies away ſtill before us, and is never to be Overtaken."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate wordnet
- 7 An object of search or pursuit. countable
"In a verſe, when a worde of three ſillables cannot thruſt in but ſidelings, to joynt him even, we are oftentimes faine to borrowe ſome leſſer quarry of elocution from the Latine, alwaies retaining this for a principle, that a leake of indeſinence , as a leake in a ſhip, muſt needly be ſtopt with what matter ſoever."
- 8 a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence wordnet
Verb
- 1 To obtain (or mine) stone by extraction from a quarry. transitive
"The incloſing of this country might alſo be effected, were the landlord to quarry the ſtones, and build the walls at his expence, and the tenant to carry the materials, and pay intereſt for the money advanced by the landlord."
- 2 To secure prey; to prey, as a vulture or harpy.
"What's an Eternal Circulation of the ſame Things, as well as the ſame Steps, without Advancing one Inch of Ground towards his Journey's End, but Ixion in the Wheel? And all this while, with Cares, and Horrors at his Heart, like the Vultur that's Day and Night Quarrying upon Prometheus's Liver."
- 3 extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry wordnet
- 4 To extract or slowly obtain by long, tedious searching. figuratively, transitive
"They quarried out new, interesting facts about ancient Egypt from old papyri."
Example
"There is a rock quarry just north of town."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "quarry"?
Common synonyms include: prey, target, stone pit, abysm, abyss, aim.
How do you use "quarry" in a sentence?
There is a rock quarry just north of town.
How do you pronounce "quarry"?
Pronounced /ˈkwɒɹ.i/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English quyrre, querre, quirre, from Anglo-Norman quiree (“entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward”) (influenced by cuir (“skin (of an animal)”), from Latin corium (“a hide”)), from coree (“entrails, viscera”), from Vulgar Latin corata (“entrails”), from Latin cor (“heart”).
Etymology 3
Alteration of quarrel (“diamond-shaped piece of coloured glass forming part of a stained glass window; square tile”).