Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A place, cavern, or pit where stones are dug from the earth, or separated, as by blasting with gunpowder, from a large mass of rock.
  • To dig or take from a quarry: as, to quarry marble.
  • Square; quadrate.
  • Stout; fat; corpulent.
  • noun A square or lozenge.
  • noun A small square or lozenge-shaped pane of glass: same as quarrel, 1 .
  • noun A bolt or arrow with a square head: same as quarrel, 2.
  • To pave with quarries. See quarry, 1 .
  • To prey, as a vulture or harpy.
  • To provide with prey.
  • noun The refuse parts of an animal slain in the chase, given in the skin to the hounds: as, to make the quarry (to open and skin the animal slain, and give the refuse to the hounds).
  • noun A beast of the chase when pursued or slain; any creature hunted by men or by beasts or birds of prey, especially after it has been killed.
  • noun Hunted or slaughtered game, or any object of eager pursuit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Same as 1st quarrel.
  • adjective obsolete Quadrate; square.
  • intransitive verb To secure prey; to prey, as a vulture or harpy.
  • noun A part of the entrails of the beast taken, given to the hounds.
  • noun A heap of game killed.
  • noun The object of the chase; the animal hunted for; game; especially, the game hunted with hawks.
  • noun A place, cavern, or pit where stone is taken from the rock or ledge, or dug from the earth, for building or other purposes; a stone pit. See 5th mine (a).
  • transitive verb To dig or take from a quarry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A diamond-shaped tile or pane, notably of glass or stone
  • noun An animal which is hunted, notably mammal or bird.
  • noun An object of search or pursuit.
  • noun A site for mining stone, limestone or slate.
  • verb transitive To obtain (mine) stone by extraction from a quarry.
  • verb figuratively (transitive) To extract or slowly obtain by long, tedious searching.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry
  • noun a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence
  • noun a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate
  • noun animal hunted or caught for food

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

An alteration of quarrel

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From quirre "entrails of deer placed on the hide and given to dogs of the chase as a reward," from Anglo-Norman quirreie, from Old French cuiriee, altered (influenced by Old French cuir "skin," from Latin corium "hide"), from corée "viscera, entrails," from Vulgar Latin corata "entrails," from Latin cor "heart."

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin quarreria (1266), literally a "place where stones are squared", from Latin quadrare "to square", itself from quadra 'a square'

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