excavator

[eks-kuh-vey-ter]

noun

1. a person or thing that excavates.

2. a power-driven machine for digging, moving, or transporting loose gravel, sand, or soil.

3. a sharp, spoonlike instrument used for scraping out diseased tissue, as in dentistry.

Word History and Origins

Origin of excavator¹

First recorded in 1805–15; excavate + -or ²

Example Sentences

He had bought the land in 2018 for just $156,000, cleared the garbage on it, and built the home along with a large shop for his vehicles, including an excavator.

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Mr White was operating the vacuum excavator which sucked up the soil from around the skull to avoid any potential damage that digging could cause.

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Verified videos showing controlled demolitions and excavators tearing down buildings published to social media since the ceasefire have also been geolocated to areas behind the Yellow Line.

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In a rural Louisiana parish that is home to some 20,000 inhabitants, an army of bulldozers and excavators has been busy clearing a vast patch of farmland, the next frontier of the artificial-intelligence revolution.

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Vietnam also employs land-based excavators that lift material from closer to the shore to expand the island surface.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• backhoe 
• bulldozer 
• digger