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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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
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
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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