excavator
Americannoun
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excavators
plural
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a person or thing that excavates.
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a power-driven machine for digging, moving, or transporting loose gravel, sand, or soil.
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a sharp, spoonlike instrument used for scraping out diseased tissue, as in dentistry.
noun
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a powered machine for digging earth, gravel, sand, etc, esp a caterpillar tractor so equipped
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any person, animal, or thing that excavates
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of excavator
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.
See Examples For:
Che, the former excavator operator, said he was glad his first harvest came through last year, and that he hopes to break even soon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Yet Cusk has found a large fan base for her work, mainly because she is a deft excavator of the human psyche, a writer who can articulate emotional states with uncanny precision and insight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Nearby a large excavator slams its shovel into another building's remains.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
"I got involved in one where an excavator on the back of a lorry hit a precast concrete bridge on the A50 in Stoke," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
It had left a trail of destruction wider than a tunnel excavator.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
On Sunday rescue workers in China recovered twelve bodies in the Nepal-Tibet border, using excavators, shovels and ground penetrating radar at the site.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Nepal’s army spokesman said Monday that army engineers had conducted a controlled explosion at the tunnel and excavators were being used to clear mud and debris at a depth of about 30 feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
In 2024, Attanasio’s construction team was accused of using excavators to dig up sand from Broad Beach and carry it back to his property as part of a beachfront development.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Several homes stood dangerously close to the edge of massive pits dug with excavators by miners seeking access to chrome deposits.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
After she goes, I turn on some kids’ songs about garbage trucks and excavators to block out the music from down the hall.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
