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to quarry

to quarry

2 6.0
To remove stone or rock from an open place in the ground
  • verb
  • /ˈkwɔri/
translation icon : explotar (una cantera)
  • Workers use dolerite rocks as hammers to slowly quarry the stone.
  • quarried stone

Examples

  • Concrete is not cut or quarried the way stone is.

  • "Some of the stone for the wall was quarried from here."

    Fiction book (1992)
  • How did these primitive people quarry, move, and erect such monsters?

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The breakwater was constructed of massive blocks of granite quarried from the White Mountains.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Instead, they set to work, mumbling among themselves, quarrying adobe blocks and felling trees.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The temple's built of granite quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Kelly witnessed Mormons cutting timber and quarrying lime 12 miles east of the city (1851, 222).

    Academic text (1997)
  • Braving unpredictable seas, the Yapese quarried limestone from the caves and rock shelters scattered among these islands.

    Academic text (2004)
  • They plan to quarry granite from the mountains for their new building project.

  • The team decided to quarry limestone to use in restoring the historic church.

Synonyms

to mine
vsto quarry
  • Specialized
21 4.0

To take metals or minerals from the ground by digging

is narrower and focuses on removing stone and other surface materials
to surface mine
vsto quarry
  • Specialized
1 6.0

To remove earth and rock from the ground to get coal or other minerals

is aimed at getting stone and other building materials rather than ores
to surface-mine
vsto quarry
7.4

To remove the top layer of ground to get minerals like coal

is focused on obtaining stone and other materials rather than ores

How Extensive

to strip-mine
  • Specialized
1 7.2
to mine
  • Specialized
21 4.0
to quarry
2 6.0
to extract
166 3.9

Surface Forms

quarry infinitive
quarried past
quarried past participle
quarrying present participle
quarries third person singular

Etymology

Quarry as a verb comes from the noun quarry for a 'pit' where stone is dug, so to quarry is simply to take rock out of the ground.