excavate

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verb ex·ca·vate \ˈek-skə-ˌvāt\

Definition of excavate

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
intransitive verb
: to make excavations

See excavate defined for English-language learners

See excavate defined for kids

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 of excavate from the Web

Odebrecht won the project to excavate tunnels for a train line to run under the city of Buenos Aires in 2013, during the Fernandez administration.

— charlie devereux, Bloomberg.com, "Argentina Seeks Antigua Accounts Information in Odebrecht Probe", 2 June 2017
Much of the expansive zone has never been excavated.

— patrick j. mcdonnell, chicagotribune.com, "ISIS militants battered Syria's ancient Palmyra, but signs of splendor still stand", 2 June 2017
In 2004, a fossilized polar bear jawbone 110,000 years old was excavated from a coastal cliff in Norway.

— michael engelhard, Smithsonian, "How Polar Bears Became the Dragons of the North", 31 May 2017
Chinese archaeologists began excavating Shangshan in the early 2000s.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "Rice Was First Grown At Least 9,400 Years Ago", 29 May 2017
With that to go on, a Defense Department team excavated the fish pond between October and December 2015.

— jeanette steele, sandiegouniontribune.com, "After five decades, MIA pilot's wedding ring and bone fragments found in Vietnam fish pond", 26 May 2017
The bones of Zeynel Bey, which were excavated several years ago and have been kept off-site to deter looting, will be reinterred.

— rachel brown, National Geographic, "This Medieval Tomb Weighs 1,100 Tons. Watch Workers Move it On Wheels", 23 May 2017
Just as Ms. Boulé explored the hidden spaces of her body, Mr. Spence excavated the private space of home in a work featuring himself and Joanna Kotze.

— gia kourlas, New York Times, "Moving to a Disco Beat, or the Clatter of Household Objects", 23 May 2017
Unfortunately, there was no basement (a small matter resolved by excavating an enormous hole beneath the house).

— wired staff, WIRED, "Tech-Xtreme Makeover", 1 Jan. 2005

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'excavate'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of excavate

Latin excavatus, past participle of excavare, from ex- + cavare to make hollow — more at cavatina

First Known Use: 1599

Other Mining and Drilling Terms

ore, trepan, wildcat

EXCAVATE Defined for English Language Learners

excavate

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verb

Definition of excavate for English Language Learners

: to uncover (something) by digging away and removing the earth that covers it
: to dig a large hole in (something)
: to form (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by digging

EXCAVATE Defined for Kids

excavate

play

verb ex·ca·vate \ˈek-skə-ˌvāt\

Definition of excavate for Students

excavated

;

excavating

1 : to expose to view by digging away a covering They've excavated an ancient city.
2 : to hollow out : form a hole in Workers excavated the side of a hill.
3 : to make by hollowing out We must excavate a tunnel.
4 : to dig out and remove Miners excavate diamonds.