excavate

verb

ex·​ca·​vate ˈek-skə-ˌvāt How to pronounce excavate (audio)
excavated; excavating

transitive verb

1
: to form a cavity or hole in
2
: to form by hollowing out
3
: to dig out and remove
4
: to expose to view by or as if by digging away a covering
excavate the remains of a temple

Examples of excavate in a Sentence

They excavated an ancient city. It is the first site to be excavated in this area. They began excavating the backyard for their new pool. The excess dirt was carefully excavated.
Recent Examples on the Web Another Woodstock attendee, Akinyele Sadiq, also came to see the curators in San Francisco to excavate his memories of watching the festival from 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from the stage. Michael Liedtke, Quartz, 2 Mar. 2024 Since 2011, experts have been working to excavate the city. Moira Ritter, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 Subsequently, authorities worked with the new owner of a trailer on the property to excavate the remains, the sheriff’s office said. Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 When a condo development threatened the remains of a 13th-century coastal fishing site on Santa Catarina Island in southern Brazil in 1996, archaeologists rushed to excavate. Sarah Sloat, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024 The other option is to excavate and move the ash to a lined landfill or direct it to beneficial uses. Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 20 Feb. 2024 But the pitcher the Giants hope to excavate from the rehab process is the one who debuted in 2021 with a 1.77 ERA over his first 20⅓ big-league innings. Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2024 Part of the goal of the Artemis mission is to set up a pilot processing plant on the moon to excavate resources, for which the first customers are expected to be commercial rocket companies, per Reuters. Devika Rao, theweek, 19 Jan. 2024 Archaeologists excavated the riverbank and unearthed a massive block of carved limestone. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'excavate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin excavātus, past participle of excavāre "to hollow out, form a hole in," from ex- ex- entry 1 + cavāre "to make hollow, hollow out," verbal derivative of cavus "hollow, concave" — more at hole entry 1

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of excavate was in 1599

Dictionary Entries Near excavate

Cite this Entry

“Excavate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excavate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

excavate

verb
ex·​ca·​vate ˈek-skə-ˌvāt How to pronounce excavate (audio)
excavated; excavating
1
: to hollow out : form a hole in
excavate the side of a hill
2
: to make by hollowing out
excavate a tunnel
3
: to dig out and remove
excavate sand
4
: to uncover by digging away covering earth
excavate an ancient city
excavator
-ˌvāt-ər
noun

Medical Definition

excavate

verb
ex·​ca·​vate ˈek-skə-ˌvāt How to pronounce excavate (audio)
excavated; excavating

transitive verb

: to form a cavity or hole in
an excavated wisdom tooth

intransitive verb

: to make excavations or become hollowed out
an area of infarction in soft tissue often tends to excavate

More from Merriam-Webster on excavate

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!