excavate
verb (used with object)
to make hollow by removing the inner part; make a hole or cavity in; form into a hollow, as by digging.
excavated
-
past participleof excavate.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
-
past tense formof excavate.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
excavateverb (used with object)to make hollow by removing the inner part; make a hole or cavity in; form into a hollow, as by digging.
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.
Although the quarry was discovered in 1992 and excavated through 2019, many of the fossils recovered there had never been formally described and remained largely unknown to science.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
The bulk of the canal's construction work involved widening, deepening and modifying existing waterways, while a small section had to be excavated, Xinhua said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Museum paleontologists excavated some 70% of Thomas’s fossilized skeleton in the early 2000s, making it one of the most complete T. rex specimens ever found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Only the back of the head was visible to George, invisible for centuries was the beak, which was about a foot long when excavated.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
We have abundant evidence from the garbage that they left behind at hundreds of thousands of excavated archaeological sites and huge shell mounds distributed all over Japan.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
