hollowing (out)

verb

present participle of hollow (out)
as in scooping (out)

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hollowing (out)
  1. excavating
  2. shoveling
Verb
  • Never being satisfied with continuing to try and get deeper and deeper to who this individual is at their core, just constantly excavating.
    — Mike Ryan, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Years spent researching Kelly has spent years researching, roaming and excavating the former Multnomah Plantation, established in 1854, in Kansas City near Liberty after discovering the story of Dougherty’s home decades ago.
    — Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of excavating
Verb
  • Earlier this month, bulldozers were videoed uprooting trees and shoveling dirt as wild animals trotted by.
    — Ashley Killough, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Blücher, who eventually became a popular philosophy lecturer at Bard College, got a job shovelling chemicals in a New Jersey factory.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of shoveling
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.

Browse Nearby Words

hollowing
hollowing (out)
hollowness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hollowing (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hollowing%20%28out%29. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of balmy

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All