excavate
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
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to make (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by removing material.
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to dig or scoop out (earth, sand, etc.).
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to expose or lay bare by or as if by digging; unearth.
to excavate an ancient city.
verb
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to remove (soil, earth, etc) by digging; dig out
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to make (a hole, cavity, or tunnel) in (solid matter) by hollowing or removing the centre or inner part
to excavate a tooth
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to unearth (buried objects) methodically in an attempt to discover information about the past
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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excavatesimple
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excavatessimple
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have excavatedperfect
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has excavatedperfect
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are excavatingprogressive
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am excavatingprogressive
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is excavatingprogressive
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have been excavatingperfect progressive
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has been excavatingperfect progressive
Past
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excavatedsimple
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had excavatedperfect
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was excavatingprogressive
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were excavatingprogressive
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had been excavatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of excavate
1590–1600; < Latin excavātus (past participle of excavāre to hollow out), equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + cav ( um ) hollow, cave + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To excavate is to remove or find by digging. If you have rocky soil in your garden, you may have to excavate it to remove the rocks and replace them with additional soil. Construction crews also excavate when they remove material from the ground. Workers slowly excavate subways tunnels using explosives to break up the rock and earth. Then the workers clear away the materials, hollowing out a tunnel as they go. It often takes a lot of time and effort to excavate. But most people would agree a new subway line is dynamite!
Vocabulary lists containing excavate
Power Prefix: ex-
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Holes
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Excavate the sides of the pothole so it looks like an upside down ice cream cone.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 19, 2023
Excavate for each tree a hole three feet in diameter and three feet deep.
From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James)
Excavate: with a depression that is not the segment of a circle.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Excavate, eks′ka-vāt, v.t. to hollow or scoop out: to dig out.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Excavate holes of ample size, so that all the roots may be spread out naturally.
From The Home Acre by Roe, Edward Payson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
