excavate

verb

ex·ca·vate ˈek-skə-ˌvāt

excavated; excavating

Synonyms of excavate next

transitive verb

: to form a cavity or hole in

: to form by hollowing out

: to dig out and remove

: to expose to view by or as if by digging away a covering

excavate the remains of a temple

intransitive verb

: 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 The location was chosen by Young, and men with picks and wagons went to work the same day to begin excavating for the temple’s foundation. —

The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 Sep. 2023 Then the team excavated and artificially incubated the eggs. —

Isabella Volmert, Dallas News, 31 Aug. 2023 The team first used CT scans to virtually excavate the urns without tampering with them. —

Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 Aug. 2023 In 1975, archaeologists excavating the nearby mausoleum of Wen’s mother, Empress Dowager Bo, found a giant panda’s skull, but its body was missing, perhaps stolen by graverobbers, notes the Washington Post’s Lyric Li. —

Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023 Nautilus intended to excavate minerals from hydrothermal vents, often teeming with exotic life, in Papua New Guinea's territorial waters. —

Olive Heffernan, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2023 The duo are planning to return to the hillside next summer to excavate more. —

Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2023 Forensics experts have started excavating new sites. —

Pascale Bonnefoy, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2023 In many European countries, urn burials from prehistoric times are excavated by archaeologists before heading into the lab for further study. —

Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 Aug. 2023 See More

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

See more words from the same year