quarrying

English

Verb

quarrying

1. present participle and gerund of quarry

Noun

quarrying (countable and uncountable, plural quarryings)

1. The extraction of material from a quarry.
   • 1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:

     In 1765 only 80 men were employed, and the annual output of slates did not exceed 1,000 tons, and large-scale quarrying was not begun by Lord Penrhyn until 1782.

2. A small piece of stone chipped off any stone found in a quarry.