excavate

[ eks-kuh-veyt ]

/ ˈɛks kəˌveɪt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: excavate / excavated on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ex·ca·vat·ed, ex·ca·vat·ing.

to make hollow by removing the inner part; make a hole or cavity in; form into a hollow, as by digging: The ground was excavated for a foundation.

to make (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by removing material.

to dig or scoop out (earth, sand, etc.).

to expose or lay bare by or as if by digging; unearth: to excavate an ancient city.

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of excavate

1590–1600; <Latin excavātus (past participle of excavāre to hollow out), equivalent to ex-ex-¹ + cav(um) hollow, cave + -ātus-ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM excavate

re·ex·ca·vate, verb (used with object), re·ex·ca·vat·ed, re·ex·ca·vat·ing.un·ex·ca·vat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use excavate in a sentence

They’ve also drafted Mark Kisin, a number theorist at Harvard University and an old friend of Farb’s, to help them excavate.
Mathematicians Resurrect Hilbert’s 13th Problem|Stephen Ornes|January 14, 2021|Quanta Magazine
A team led by evolutionary geneticists Gülşah Merve Kilinç and Anders Götherström, both of Stockholm University, extracted DNA from the remains of 40 human skeletons previously excavated in parts of eastern Siberia.
Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians|Bruce Bower|January 6, 2021|Science News
Among them are a ball, a child’s Spider-Man shoe and slabs of Styrofoam so weathered they look as if they were excavated at Pompeii.
In the galleries: Up to his elbows in watery works and lustrous prints|Mark Jenkins|December 18, 2020|Washington Post
A team led by archaeologist Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel — who Chadwick collaborated with to excavate the Gath gateway — has investigated Tell es-Safi since 1996.
The biblical warrior Goliath may not have been so giant after all|Bruce Bower|November 23, 2020|Science News

Buildings at Gath and several dozen other cities from ancient Israel and nearby kingdoms of Judah and Philistia, excavated by other teams, were constructed based on three primary measurements, Chadwick has found.
The biblical warrior Goliath may not have been so giant after all|Bruce Bower|November 23, 2020|Science News
There were six hundred yards and more unexcavated, and but three days of his time remained.
The Iron Furrow|George C. Shedd
Large, unexcavated ruins, magnificent canyons and mesas off the beaten path unfold the charm of this primitive region.
Mesa Verde National Park|Anonymous
No survey of the unexcavated sites has been made, and the total number of ruins is unknown.
Mesa Verde National Park|Anonymous
A number of buildings or clusters of rooms have been excavated in this, and others as yet unexcavated are known to be there.
Your National Parks|Enos A. Mills
Some seventy or eighty feet is all that is visible of this limestone; the rest is unexcavated.
Sea-Weeds, Shells and Fossils|Peter Gray

British Dictionary definitions for excavate

excavate

/ (ˈɛkskəˌveɪt) /

verb

to remove (soil, earth, etc) by digging; dig out

to make (a hole, cavity, or tunnel) in (solid matter) by hollowing or removing the centre or inner partto excavate a tooth

to unearth (buried objects) methodically in an attempt to discover information about the past

Derived forms of excavate

excavation, noun

Word Origin for excavate

C16: from Latin excavāre, from cavāre to make hollow, from cavus hollow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

excavate

Origin of excavate

OTHER WORDS FROM excavate

Words related to excavate

How to use excavate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for excavate

Derived forms of excavate

Word Origin for excavate