Quarry
WordNet
noun
(1) Animal hunted or caught for food
(2) A surface excavation for extracting stone or slate
"A British term for `quarry' is `stone pit'"
(3) A person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence
"He fell prey to muggers"
"Everyone was fair game"
"The target of a manhunt"
verb
(4) Extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry
"Quarry marble"
WiktionaryText
Etymology 1
From quarreria (1266), literally a "place where stones are squared", from quadrare "to square", itself from quadra 'a square'
Noun
- A site for mining stone, limestone or slate.
- Michelangelo personally quarried marble from the world-famous quarry at Carrara
Verb
- To obtain (mine) stone by extraction from a quarry.
- Michelangelo personally quarried marble from the world-famous quarry at Carrara.
- To extract or slowly obtain by long, tedious searching.
- They quarried out new, interesting facts about ancient Egypt from old papyri.
Etymology 2
From quirre "entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward," from Anglo-French quirreie, from cuiriee, altered (influenced by cuir "skin," from corium "hide"), from corée "viscera, entrails," from corata "entrails," from cor "heart."
Noun
- An animal which is hunted, notably mammal or bird.
- An object of search or pursuit.
- A US State Department website advertised a reward of up to $1m (£500,000) for the capture of its quarry, who was described as 5ft 11in (180cm) tall, with a pale complexion, "a moustache and a long, heavy beard that is starting to grey". - BBC News website, 27 April 2007