excavation

[ eks-kuh-vey-shuh n ]

/ ˌɛks kəˈveɪ ʃən /

a hole or cavity made by excavating.

an area in which excavating has been done or is in progress, as an archaeological site.

Nearby words

1605–15; < Latin excavātiōn- (stem of excavātiō) a hollowing. See excavate, -ion

SYNONYMS FOR excavation

1 See hole.

Related formsex·ca·va·tion·al, adjectivenon·ex·ca·va·tion, nounre·ex·ca·va·tion, noun

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

Jenkins had written entirely from secondary literature—no interviews or excavation of legal documents.
How the ‘Witch Hunt’ Myth Undermined American Justice|Jason Berry|July 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I was writing an article for Outside, whose expense money helped finance the excavation.
Incontrovertible Evidence Proves the First Americans Came From Asia|Doug Peacock|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He, not Hylton, the author of Vanished, is the one who has done most of the research on the pilots and their excavation process.
Will These Men Ever Come Home? The Search for Missing WWII Pilots in “Vanished”|Jordan Michael Smith|November 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Hundreds of years of excavation has left seven gorgeous chambers carved into the salt rock throughout the floors.
Wieliczka Salt Mine Is an Incredible Polish Underground Amusement Park|Nina Strochlic|November 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST

“He is in a row,” says Erin Kimmerle, an associate professor of anthropology with USF, who is leading the excavation.
The Bone Collectors Get to Work at Florida’s Dozier School|Christine Pelisek|September 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
While filling in the excavation, the pipe represented in Fig. 22 was found in the dirt which had been removed from it.
Burial Mounds of the Northern Sections of the United States|Cyrus Thomas
The rule is, the excavation must be made in a reasonable manner.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman|Albert Sidney Bolles
The excavation was done mostly at night, the ground being illuminated by magnesium light.
Lights and Shadows of New York Life|James D. McCabe
Calculating an average monthly excavation of a million cubic yards, the task would have required 17 years to complete.
The Panama Canal|Frederic Jennings Haskin
On November 7th, 1904, the excavation east of the intercepting arch was begun by driving a bottom heading in the South Tunnel.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910|B. H. M. Hewett

[ ĕk′skə-vā′shən ]

A natural cavity, pouch, or recess.

A cavity formed artificially or as the result of a pathological process.