excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
ˈek-skə-ˌvāt 
excavated; excavating
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
: to make excavations
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
Where Fennell’s film departs from its source—reimagining rather than excavating—Powell’s novel goes the other direction, pushing deeper into Brontë’s life and work to find what might explain them.
—
Literary Hub, 20 Mar. 2026
Crews uncovered the marble slab while excavating the site of the Mentor, a brig owned by Thomas Bruce, the British soldier and diplomat known as Lord Elgin, according to Greece's Ministry of Culture and BBC News, a CBS News partner.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
The movie, which also stars Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton and Abigail Breslin, is based on the true story of Ann and Earl Morris, early 20th-century archaeologists who helped excavate and document evidence of the Ancestral Puebloans in the American Southwest.
—Angela Yang, NBC news, 18 Mar. 2026
Along University Avenue, land has been excavated for a new boutique hotel, which is in the process of gaining its structural footings.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 15 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for excavate
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Literary Hub, 20 Mar. 2026
Crews uncovered the marble slab while excavating the site of the Mentor, a brig owned by Thomas Bruce, the British soldier and diplomat known as Lord Elgin, according to Greece's Ministry of Culture and BBC News, a CBS News partner.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
The movie, which also stars Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton and Abigail Breslin, is based on the true story of Ann and Earl Morris, early 20th-century archaeologists who helped excavate and document evidence of the Ancestral Puebloans in the American Southwest.
—Angela Yang, NBC news, 18 Mar. 2026
Along University Avenue, land has been excavated for a new boutique hotel, which is in the process of gaining its structural footings.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 15 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for excavate
Cite this Entry
“Excavate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excavate. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
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
noun
-ˌvāt-ər
Medical Definition
excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
excavated; excavating
: to form a cavity or hole in
an excavated wisdom tooth
: to make excavations or become hollowed out
an area of infarction in soft tissue often tends to excavate
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