as in digging
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 excavating
These connections raise the possibility that people were following camels across the desert on winter migrations, says archaeologist and study co-author Ceri Shipton, who was excavating the site, known as Jebel Misma, when his team spotted a spectacular caravan of camel carvings on May 14, 2023.
—
Martin J. Kernan, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
Writing is an iceberg sort of art form where only 10% of the work ends up on the page; the other 90% includes excavating each character’s backstory.
—Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
But figuring out what’s excavating without your permission isn’t straightforward.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 21 Sep. 2025
In the late 1940s, Soviet archaeologists began excavating the Royal Palace at Sanjar-Shar.
—Sarah Durn, Popular Science, 17 Sep. 2025
While excavating the ruins, archaeologists from the University of Haifa's Zinman Institute of Archaeology were struck by a floor design at the entrance of an ancient building.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Other mining jobs include continuous mining machine operators, excavating/loading machine and dragline operators, and construction equipment operators.
—Noël Fletcher, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Currently, the crew is still working on excavating down to the pipe to find the exact break, the company stated.
—Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 28 Aug. 2025
Zone Rouge follows the démineurs, a band of bomb-retrieval experts who are, in 2016, still carefully excavating shells from the soil.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Martin J. Kernan, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
Writing is an iceberg sort of art form where only 10% of the work ends up on the page; the other 90% includes excavating each character’s backstory.
—Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
But figuring out what’s excavating without your permission isn’t straightforward.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 21 Sep. 2025
In the late 1940s, Soviet archaeologists began excavating the Royal Palace at Sanjar-Shar.
—Sarah Durn, Popular Science, 17 Sep. 2025
While excavating the ruins, archaeologists from the University of Haifa's Zinman Institute of Archaeology were struck by a floor design at the entrance of an ancient building.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Other mining jobs include continuous mining machine operators, excavating/loading machine and dragline operators, and construction equipment operators.
—Noël Fletcher, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Currently, the crew is still working on excavating down to the pipe to find the exact break, the company stated.
—Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 28 Aug. 2025
Zone Rouge follows the démineurs, a band of bomb-retrieval experts who are, in 2016, still carefully excavating shells from the soil.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excavating
digging
Verb
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Tubers that are dug for winter storage can be separated into starts at the time of digging.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Others are digging the W’s faster pace and perimeter evolution.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Excavating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excavating. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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