quarry
pronunciation
How to pronounce quarry in British English:
UK [ˈkwɒri]
How to pronounce quarry in American English:
US [ˈkwɑːri]
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- Noun:
- a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence
- a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate
- animal hunted or caught for food
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- Verb:
- extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry
Word Origin
- quarry
- quarry: Quarry from which stone is extracted [15] and quarry which one hunts [14] are quite different words. The former was borrowed from Old French quarriere, a derivative of *quarre ‘square stone’. This went back to Latin quadrum ‘square’, which was based on the stem quadr- ‘four’, source of English quadrangle, quadrant, quadruped, etc.The sort of quarry that is pursued came from Anglo-Norman *quire or *quere, which denoted ‘entrails of a killed deer given to the hounds to eat’. This went back to Old French cuiree, which was an alteration of an earlier couree or coree. And this in turn was descended from Vulgar Latin *corāta ‘entrails’, a derivative of Latin cor ‘heart’.The present-day sense of the English word emerged in the 15th century.=> quarter; cordial, courage, record
- quarry (n.1)
- "what is hunted," early 14c., quirre "entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward," from Anglo-French quirreie, Old French cuiriee "the spoil, quarry" (Modern French curée), altered (by influence of Old French cuir "skin," from Latin corium "hide"), from Old French corée "viscera, entrails," from Vulgar Latin *corata "entrails," from Latin cor "heart," from PIE root *kerd- (1) "heart" (see heart (n.)). Sense of "anything chased in hunt" is first recorded 1610s; earlier "bird targeted by a hawk or other raptor" (late 15c.).
- quarry (n.2)
- "open place where rocks are excavated," c. 1400 (mid-13c. as a place name), from Medieval Latin quareia, dissimilated from quarreria (mid-13c.), literally "place where stones are squared," from Latin quadrare "to square" (see quadrant).
- quarry (v.)
- 1774, from quarry (n.2). Related: Quarried; quarrying.
Example
- 1. Indira has worked at the local granite quarry since she was three .
- 2. Well , unless you call your local quarry an apartment complex , you know .
- 3. It sat unappreciated in a california quarry until michael heizer , an artist , spotted it .
- 4. But the cave , at the bottom of a byzantine quarry in a scrub of high desert , is not visible .
- 5. After a quick look around , he realized this quarry was full of more tiny bones than a garbage bin outside hooters .