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.
have excavated
-
present perfectof excavate.present perfect
Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue into or have direct relevance to the present.
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.
"The collision struck the lunar surface with such force that it may have excavated material from deep inside the Moon, including portions of the lunar mantle."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026
A few historians have excavated rights in the Middle Ages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
Crews have excavated 85% of the area and have begun digging by hand around the valve to ensure adjacent oil pipelines, a fiber optic line and a gas line are not affected, Quiñones said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
Archaeologists at a site in northwestern Saudi Arabia have excavated a lava tube — the naturally hollowed-out subterranean remnant of a lava flow.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
Archaeologists have excavated hundreds of American sites unequivocally dating to between 2000 and 11,000 B.C., including dozens of Clovis sites in the North American West, rock shelters in the Appalachians, and sites in coastal California.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
