excavate

[eks-kuh-veyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR excavate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), ex·ca·vat·ed, ex·ca·vat·ing.

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.

to make (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by removing material.

to dig or scoop out (earth, sand, etc.).

to expose or lay bare by or as if by digging; unearth: to excavate an ancient city.

Origin of excavate

1590–1600; < Latin excavātus (past participle of excavāre to hollow out), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + cav(um) hollow, cave + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsre·ex·ca·vate, verb (used with object), re·ex·ca·vat·ed, re·ex·ca·vat·ing.un·ex·ca·vat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for excavated

unearth, uncover, shovel, scrape, gouge, cut, quarry, grub, tunnel, mine, hollow, trench, scoop, burrow, spade, delve, empty

Examples from the Web for excavated

Contemporary Examples of excavated

Today, I took in the whole giant dig, with hundreds of the soldiers on view and thousands more waiting to be excavated.
To Serve and Protect
Blake Gopnik
September 27, 2012
The land was developed for homes in 1974, but residents were relocated while the area was excavated and rebuilt in 1988.
Our Most Polluted States
The Daily Beast
May 19, 2010

Historical Examples of excavated

Let this be as it may, we found nothing of any value in the agglomerate in which the Egyptians had excavated.
Freeland
Theodor Hertzka
The amphitheatre is still in existence, and was excavated in 1887.
Pagan and Christian Rome
Rodolfo Lanciani
To return to the site first found, the hill fort of Dunbuie, excavated in 1896.
The Clyde Mystery
Andrew Lang
If the ground is soft a small grave is excavated at the bottom of the larger one.
The Faith of Islam
Edward Sell
The walls and ceiling were rough and irregular; it was natural instead of excavated.
The Cosmic Computer
Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for excavated

excavate

verb

to remove (soil, earth, etc) by digging; dig out

to make (a hole, cavity, or tunnel) in (solid matter) by hollowing or removing the centre or inner partto excavate a tooth

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

Derived Formsexcavation, noun

Word Origin for excavate

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for excavated

excavate

1590s, from Latin excavatus, past participle of excavare "to hollow out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + cavare "to hollow, hollow out," from cavus "cave" (see cave (n.)). Related: Excavated; excavating.