quarry

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“
After the chase the "quarry" was usually held by torchlight at Versailles, in one of the inner courts, and the ceremony of the quarry was as follows: "When His Majesty had made known his intentions on the subject, all the huntsmen with their horns and in hunting-dress came to the place where the quarry was to be made.

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Definitions (33)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun A hunted animal; prey.
  2. noun Hunted animals considered as a group; game.
  3. noun An object of pursuit: The police lost their quarry in the crowd.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (13)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

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Examples (50)

  • All hunters will tell you that the actual search for their quarry is the best part of the game. —  The Vanished Man
  • I've had enough Spanish to know he means paradise, and while the quarry is about as scenic as things get around here, personally, I would never use that word to describe anything in this town. —  F ;SF - vol 098 issue 04 - April 2000
  • So maybe, once the murderer and his quarry were alone on the staircase, maybe there could not have been a better moment. —  Death on the River Walk
  • The palmettoes were scrawny, the pointed leaves being particularly vicious Doc Savage knew his quarry was ahead somewhere. —  024 - Red Snow
  • All the bottom of the quarry was a maze of rusted rails. —  051 - Mad Eyes
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Etymologies (8)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Variant of quarrel2.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. Early modern English also quarrey, quary; from Middle English quarry, quarrey, quarre, square, thick, from Old French quarre, French carré, square, from Latin quadratus, squared, square; as a noun, Latin quadratum, neuter, a square, a quadrate, Late Latin quadratus, masculine, a square: see quadrate, of which quarry is a doublet.
  2. from Middle English quarrye, also quar, altered, by confusion with quarry, from earlier quarrer, quarrere, quarer, quarere, from Old French quarriere, French carrière, from Middle Latin quadraria, a quarry, a place where stones are cut or squared (suggested by Late Latin quadratarius, a stone-cutter, literally ‘a squarer’: see quarrier), from Latin quadratus, square, past participle of quadrare, make square, square: see quarry, quadrate.
  3. from quarry, n.
  4. from Middle English querre, kyrre, from Old French cuiree, curee, French curée, quarry, orig. the refuse parts of an animal slain, given to the hounds in its skin, from cuir, skin, hide, from Latin corium, hide: see corium.
  5. quarry, n.
 

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/ˈkwɑri/
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