Quarry Meaning
/ˈkwɒɹ.i/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA site for mining stone, such as limestone, or slate.
verbTo obtain (or mine) stone by extraction from a quarry.
Sentence Examples
There is a rock quarry just north of town.
There's a rock quarry ten miles west of town.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To build the new road, construction companies need to get gravel from a nearby ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The stone used to build the cathedral was extracted from a ____ in the hills ten miles away.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English quarere, from Medieval Latin quarreria (1266), literally a “place where stones are squared”, from Old French quarrière (compare modern French carrière), from Vulgar Latin *quadraria, from Latin quadrō (“to square”), itself from quadra (“a square”), from quattuor (“four”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Yet theſe are the men cry'd out againſt for ſchiſmaticks and ſectaries; as if, while the Temple of the Lord was building, ſome cutting, ſome ſquaring the marble, others hewing the cedars, there ſhould be a ſort of irrationall men who could not conſider there muſt be many ſchiſms and many diſſections made in the quarry and the timber, ere the houſe of God can be built."
— 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 32:
"There have been found certain Cements under Earth, that are very ſoft, and yet taken forth into the Sun, harden as hard as Marble: There are alſo ordinary Quarries in Sommerſet-shire, which in the Quarry cut ſoft to any bigneſs, and in the Building prove firm, and hard."
— 1670, Francis Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [Francis Bacon], “Century V”, in Sylva Sylvarum, or, A Natural History, in Ten Centuries. Whereunto is Newly Added, the History Natural and Experimental of [Life] and Death, or of the Prolongation of Life. Published after the Authors Death. By William Rawley, Doctor in Divinity, One of His Majesties Chaplains. Whereunto is Added Articles of Inquiry, Touching Metals and Minerals. And the New Atlantis. As also the Life of the Right Honorable Francis Bacon, Never Added to this Book before. [...] With an Alphabetical Table of the Principal Things Contained in the Ten Centuries, 9th and last edition, London: Printed by J[ohn] R[edmayne] for William Lee, and are to be sold by George Sawbridg [et al.], →OCLC, paragraph 850, page 183:
"There was a good quarry of limestone on the farm […]"
— 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
"This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line."
— 1954 August, H. M. Madgwick, “The Blaenau Festiniog Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 569:
"The incloſing of this country might alſo be effected, were the landlord to quarry the ſtones, and build the walls at his expence, and the tenant to carry the materials, and pay intereſt for the money advanced by the landlord."
— 1794, James Donaldson, “Miscellaneous Observations and Hints for Improvement”, in General View of the Agriculture of the County of Elgin or Moray, Lying between the Spey and the Findhorn; including Part of Strathspey, in the County of Inverness. With Observations on the Means of Its Improvement, … Drawn up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, London: Printed by C. Clarke, →OCLC, page 34:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To build the new road, construction companies need to get gravel from a nearby ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The stone used to build the cathedral was extracted from a ____ in the hills ten miles away.