quarry

A large open hole in the ground where people dig out stone or sand.

• He works in a quarry.
• They took marble from the quarry to build the museum.
• The old quarries have filled with water.

Common phrases: stone quarry, abandoned quarry, work in a quarry

An animal that a person or another animal is hunting.

• The hawk watched its quarry.
• The hunters lost sight of their quarry in the forest.
• A fox followed its quarry across the field.

Similar words: prey, game

Common phrases: pursue its quarry, hunt their quarry, catch its quarry

A person or thing that someone is trying to find or catch.

• The detective finally found his quarry.
• Her quarry was a rare book missing from the library.
• The reporters pursued their quarry through the station.

Similar words: target

Common phrases: elusive quarry, find their quarry, pursue their quarry

To obtain information or other useful material by searching carefully for a long time.

• They quarry facts from old letters.
• She quarried evidence from hundreds of records.
• The historian spent years quarrying material from private archives.

How to use it: quarry something from something (She quarried details from old court records.); quarry something out of something (He quarried useful facts out of forgotten reports.)

Similar words: extract, unearth

Common phrases: quarry facts, quarry from something, quarry out something