quar|ry

quar|ry¹ «KWAWR ee, KWOR-», noun, plural -ries, verb, -ried, -ry|ing.

–n.

1. a place where stone is dug, cut, or blasted out for use in building: »

an ancient quarry from which the stone has been cut out in smooth masses (Amelia B. Edwards).

2. Figurative. a source of plentiful supply; mine: »

Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations (Sir George Mackenzie).

–v.t.

1. to obtain from a quarry: »

We watched the workmen quarry out a huge block of marble.

2. Figurative. to dig out by hard work: »

This is the story of Sandburg's boyhood quarried with deftness and tact out of the rich profusion of “Always the Young Strangers” (Saturday Review).

3. to make a quarry in.

–v.i.

to dig in a quarry: »

Figurative. He deliberately left buried [some stories] in the files of these magazines because he quarried from them later for his novels (Norman Shrapnel).

╂[< Medieval Latin quareia < quareria < quadraria < Latin quadrus a square]

quar|ry² «KWAWR ee, KWOR-», noun, plural -ries.

1. an animal chased in a hunt; game; prey: »

a falcon swooping on its quarry (Herbert Spencer). The foxhunters chased their quarry for hours.

2. Figurative. anything hunted or eagerly pursued: »

Hunter and quarry under the same roof, all unbeknownst to one another (New Yorker).

╂[< Old French cuiree < cuir skin, hide < Latin corium]

quar|ry³ «KWAWR ee, KWOR-», noun, plural -ries, adjective.

–n.

1. a small, square or diamond-shaped pane of glass, used in latticed windows; quarrel: »

This window was filled with old painted glass in…quarries (Margaret O. W. Oliphant).

2. a tile or stone that is square or diamond-shaped: »

What ground remains…is flagged with large quarries of white marble (Sir Richard Steele).

–adj.

square or diamond-shaped: »

quarry tile.

╂[< quarrel²]