quarrying
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quar·ry 1
(kwôr′ē, kwŏr′ē)n. pl. quar·ries
1.
a. A hunted animal; prey.
b. Hunted animals considered as a group; game.
2. An object of pursuit: The police lost their quarry in the crowd.
[Middle English querre, entrails of a deer given to hounds as a reward, from Old French cuiriee, alteration (influenced by cuir, skin) of coree, from Vulgar Latin *corāta, viscera, from Latin cor, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]
quar·ry 2
(kwôr′ē, kwŏr′ē)n. pl. quar·ries
1. An open excavation or pit from which stone is obtained by digging, cutting, or blasting.
2. A rich or productive source: found the book an indispensable quarry of information.
tr.v. quar·ried, quar·ry·ing, quar·ries
1. To obtain (stone) from a quarry, as by cutting, digging, or blasting.
2. To extract (facts, for example) by long, careful searching: finally quarried out the genealogy from hundreds of sources.
3. To use (land) as a quarry.
[Middle English quarey, from Medieval Latin quareria, quareia, alteration of Old French quarriere, from *quarre, cut stone, from Latin quadrum, square; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots.]
quar′ri·er n.
quar·ry 3
(kwôr′ē, kwŏr′ē)n. pl. quar·ries
1. A square or diamond shape.
2. A pane of glass having this shape.
[Variant of quarrel.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
quarrying
(ˈkwɒrɪɪŋ)n
(Mining & Quarrying) the extracting of stone from a quarry
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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Noun | 1. | quarrying - the extraction of building stone or slate from an open surface quarry production - (economics) manufacturing or mining or growing something (usually in large quantities) for sale; "he introduced more efficient methods of production" quarry - extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry; "quarry marble" |
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