excavate

[ eks-kuh-veyt ]

verb (used with object)

, ex·ca·vat·ed, ex·ca·vat·ing.

1. to make hollow by removing the inner part; make a hole or cavity in; form into a hollow, as by digging:

   The ground was excavated for a foundation.

2. to make (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by removing material.
3. to dig or scoop out (earth, sand, etc.).
4. to expose or lay bare by or as if by digging; unearth:

   to excavate an ancient city.

excavate

/ ˈɛkskəˌveɪt /

verb

1. to remove (soil, earth, etc) by digging; dig out
2. to make (a hole, cavity, or tunnel) in (solid matter) by hollowing or removing the centre or inner part

   to excavate a tooth

3. to unearth (buried objects) methodically in an attempt to discover information about the past

Derived Forms

• ˌexcaˈvation, noun

Other Words From

• re·exca·vate verb (used with object) reexcavated reexcavating
• un·exca·vated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of excavate¹

1590–1600; < Latin excavātus (past participle of excavāre to hollow out), equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + cav ( um ) hollow, cave + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of excavate¹

C16: from Latin excavāre, from cavāre to make hollow, from cavus hollow

Example Sentences

The unique ability of humans to pry open the Earth and excavate the mass carbon graves of millions of years ago has created an energy surplus unheard of in the billions of years prior.

From Nautilus

Crucially, each flare would excavate some protons from the neutron star’s surface.

From Science News

Five council circles have been found among 22 ancestral Wichita sites excavated along an eight-kilometer stretch of the Little Arkansas and Smoky Hill rivers, around 230 kilometers north of the newly surveyed site.

From Science News

Makers of the earthwork may have removed soil from the pits to construct mounds inside its borders, as has been observed at excavated council circles in the region.

From Science News

Previous research has been done on Stonehenge’s acoustics, but was incomplete, says archaeologist Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University in England who has excavated at Stonehenge but did not participate in the new research.

From Science News

There have been attempts to excavate the remains, and many have been removed over the past half-decade.

From The Daily Beast

In the years since, Alford has worked hard to excavate what she really feels.

From The Daily Beast

However, de-miners crawling on their bellies to identify, excavate, and destroy mines remain the default modus operandi.

From The Daily Beast

To excavate a hole under either of the four would have required more time than we believed we had to spare.

From Project Gutenberg

I looked among the dead, to see if I could find any iron implement with which to excavate the wall, or to break the chains.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the birds are able to obtain a foothold and to excavate with the bill, while clinging to the edge of the hole.

From Project Gutenberg

Before the locks could be built it became necessary to excavate down to bed rock.

From Project Gutenberg

This has operated to excavate numerous and extensive caves into the coast.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• scrape
• shovel
• uncover
• unearth