excavated

past tense of excavate
as in dug
to hollow out or form (something) by removing earth workmen are excavating a long tunnel that will eventually replace the aboveground expressway

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of excavated 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 While analyzing over 300 skeletal remains excavated in northwestern Rome, a team of paleontologists found that the bones belong to a gigantic ancestor of today’s elephant. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 8 Oct. 2025 His aristocratic tastes are reflected in his various building projects, the remains of which have been excavated. Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2025 Forgotten under sixty-five feet of pumice and ash, Herculaneum wasn’t rediscovered until the eighteenth century, and the original Villa dei Papiri has still not been fully excavated. Dana Goodyear, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025 The estate was excavated in Kafr Qasim, a city in the central region of the country. Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2025 Covered in concrete and lost to time for decades, the vats were rediscovered and excavated in 2016 within a building that hugs the Kentucky River. Robin Roenker, Southern Living, 13 Sep. 2025 One of the richest fossil sites is the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, where hundreds of bones have been excavated, giving scientists an extraordinary window into the life and death of these Ice Age giants. Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excavated
dug
Verb
  • Hungary is one of Putin’s few allies in the West, and its Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has repeatedly dug his heels in on Western efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
    Luke McGee, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
  • From November 2023 to October 2024, volunteers cleared sagebrush, dug post holes and poured concrete, enduring intense heat, strong winds and relentless dust.
    Susan H. Kamei, The Conversation, 17 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Excavated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excavated. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.

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