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
Archaeologists plan to continue analyzing these artifacts and excavating the area around the ancient basin.
—
Aspen Pflughoeft, Kansas City Star, 17 Oct. 2025
The artifacts were found by archaeologists excavating the Troy archaeological site, located in northwestern Turkey.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
The partial skeleton was excavated from Koobi Fora in Kenya.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
When an unknown person filled in the hole last year, Good Samaritans immediately excavated it.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for excavate
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Aspen Pflughoeft, Kansas City Star, 17 Oct. 2025
The artifacts were found by archaeologists excavating the Troy archaeological site, located in northwestern Turkey.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
The partial skeleton was excavated from Koobi Fora in Kenya.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
When an unknown person filled in the hole last year, Good Samaritans immediately excavated it.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for excavate
Cite this Entry
“Excavate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excavate. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share