quarry

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A hunted animal; prey.
2. n. Hunted animals considered as a group; game.
3. n. An object of pursuit: The police lost their quarry in the crowd.
4. n. An open excavation or pit from which stone is obtained by digging, cutting, or blasting.
5. n. A rich or productive source: found the book an indispensable quarry of information.
6. v. To obtain (stone) from a quarry, as by cutting, digging, or blasting.
7. v. To extract (facts, for example) by long, careful searching: finally quarried out the genealogy from hundreds of sources.
8. v. To use (land) as a quarry.
9. n. A square or diamond shape.
10. n. A pane of glass having this shape.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Square; quadrate.
2. Stout; fat; corpulent.
3. n. A square or lozenge. Specifically— A small square tile or paving-stone: same as quarrel, 1 .
4. n. A small square or lozenge-shaped pane of glass: same as quarrel, 1 .
5. n. A bolt or arrow with a square head: same as quarrel, 2.
6. n. 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. The word mine is generally applied to the excavations from which metals, metalliferous ores, and coal are taken; from quarries are taken all the various materials used for building, as marble, freestone, slate, lime, cement, rock, etc. A quarry is usually open to the day; a mine is generally covered, communicating with the surface by one or more shafts. See mine.
7. To dig or take from a quarry: as, to quarry marble.
8. n. 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).
9. n. 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.
10. n. Hunted or slaughtered game, or any object of eager pursuit.
11. To prey, as a vulture or harpy.
12. To provide with prey.
13. To pave with quarries. See quarry, 1 .

Wiktionary

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

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. obsolete Same as 1st quarrel.
2. adj. obsolete Quadrate; square.
3. n. A part of the entrails of the beast taken, given to the hounds.
4. n. A heap of game killed.
5. n. The object of the chase; the animal hunted for; game; especially, the game hunted with hawks.
6. v. To secure prey; to prey, as a vulture or harpy.
7. n. 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).
8. v. To dig or take from a quarry.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry
2. n. a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence
3. n. a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate
4. n. animal hunted or caught for food