excavator

American  

[eks-kuh-vey-ter] / ˈɛks kəˌveɪ tər /

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of excavator

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

Example Sentences

That set off days of intensive efforts using boats to make waves, then excavators to dig up sand and free the whale, as fears grew for its life.

From Barron's

After she goes, I turn on some kids’ songs about garbage trucks and excavators to block out the music from down the hall.

From Literature

In most cases the “mummy portraits”—as the paintings are called—came to be pried or detached from the full mummy by excavators, archaeologists or thieves.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Gentry Engineering and Gentry were aware of the danger of a rock strike by the excavator and failed to take action to prevent a fire,” the lawsuit alleges.

From Los Angeles Times

At the Greenland School of Minerals and Petroleum, a dozen students in hi-viz vests and helmets are out for the day learning to operate bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators and other equipment.

From Barron's

Related Words

• backhoe
• bulldozer
• digger