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
The city is leaning on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to require Ford to cover the cost of fully excavating and restoring the site itself.
—
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
Lam makes machines that Micron uses to make its wafers, adding and excavating material an atom at a time to carve the intricate architecture of a microchip.
—Mark Dee
march 3, Idaho Statesman, 3 Mar. 2026
An inspector recommended excavating on her side to allow waterproofing the wall and installing a drainpipe.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
An inspector recommended excavating on her side to allow waterproofing of the wall and installing a drainpipe.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
Serano’s team uncovered the first fossil evidence in 2019 while excavating a remote region of the central Saharan desert in Niger.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
This method uses directional drilling technology to place waste hundreds of meters underground within stable geological formations rather than excavating large tunnels in a mine.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 11 Feb. 2026
While excavating the River Wear, archaeologists uncovered more than 800 whetstones — stone tools that were used to sharpen weapons and other tools — as well as 11 stone anchors believed to be linked to river transport.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
Full removal or excavating the root system as well as the stump is an extensive project that usually requires heavy equipment, soil replacement, and regrading the area.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 19 Jan. 2026
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
Lam makes machines that Micron uses to make its wafers, adding and excavating material an atom at a time to carve the intricate architecture of a microchip.
—Mark Dee
march 3, Idaho Statesman, 3 Mar. 2026
An inspector recommended excavating on her side to allow waterproofing the wall and installing a drainpipe.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
An inspector recommended excavating on her side to allow waterproofing of the wall and installing a drainpipe.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
Serano’s team uncovered the first fossil evidence in 2019 while excavating a remote region of the central Saharan desert in Niger.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
This method uses directional drilling technology to place waste hundreds of meters underground within stable geological formations rather than excavating large tunnels in a mine.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 11 Feb. 2026
While excavating the River Wear, archaeologists uncovered more than 800 whetstones — stone tools that were used to sharpen weapons and other tools — as well as 11 stone anchors believed to be linked to river transport.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
Full removal or excavating the root system as well as the stump is an extensive project that usually requires heavy equipment, soil replacement, and regrading the area.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 19 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excavating
digging
Verb
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And digging a little deeper, the numbers are even worse.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
14 Mar. 2026
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The group is also said to be digging tunnels, building bunkers, and erecting barriers and other defensive structures in case of an attack by the United States and Israel.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Excavating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excavating. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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