excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
| \ ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
\
\
excavated;
excavating
Definition of excavate
1
: to form a cavity or hole in
2
: to form by hollowing out
3
: to dig out and remove
4
: to expose to view by or as if by digging away a covering
excavate the remains of a temple
: to make excavations
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Examples of excavate in a Sentence
They excavated an ancient city.
It is the first site to be excavated in this area.
They began excavating the backyard for their new pool.
The excess dirt was carefully excavated.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Greta Gerwig proved her aptitude for excavating the mind of a teenage girl with 2017's nouveau cult favorite Lady Bird. — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, "The Little Women Trailer Is a Nostalgic Punch to the Gut," 13 Aug. 2019 Singer/frontman John Darnielle has made a career out of excavating the painful, sad and funny truth about young people trying to make sense of their lives in America. — John Adamian, courant.com, "The Mountain Goats, excavating life in America with candor, wisdom, coming to College Street," 5 Aug. 2019 Reconstruction followed, and National Geographic magazine documented the colossal effort of excavating the new site, moving the blocks, and putting the pieces back together. — Esther Pons, National Geographic, "Epic engineering rescued colossal ancient Egyptian temples from floodwaters," 17 July 2019 Is Eleven the only one capable of excavating these memories through telepathy? — Time, "Let's Discuss the 10 Big Questions We Have After Binging Stranger Things Season 3," 4 July 2019 By excavating 1,699 stones, pebbles and flakes, and working out the age of 122 hammerstones from the radiocarbon dates of charcoal buried alongside them, the team split the site’s history into four phases. — The Economist, "Capuchin monkeys have been using stone tools for around 3,000 years," 27 June 2019 The park, which borders LACMA, also remains an active site for scientific research, with paleontologists excavating there 361 days a year. — Julia Wick, latimes.com, "Essential California: A new face for the La Brea Tar Pits on a changing Wilshire Boulevard," 7 June 2019 The basement apartment was extended to create space for a second bedroom and bathroom by excavating outward into both the backyard and beneath the sidewalk. — Ruth Bloomfield, WSJ, "Behind the Scenes of a London Townhouse’s Modern Makeover," 15 Aug. 2018 And Crews’s commitment to excavating his own trauma on a national stage, an undertaking that can be equal parts cathartic and retraumatizing, crucially helps broaden the woefully narrow profile of victims whose stories are most readily believed. — Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, "Terry Crews and the Discomfort of Masculine Anxiety," 29 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'excavate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for excavate
excavate
verb
English Language Learners Definition of excavate
: to uncover (something) by digging away and removing the earth that covers it
: to dig a large hole in (something)
: to form (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by digging
See the full definition for excavate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
| \ ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
\
\
excavated;
excavating
Kids Definition of excavate
1
: to expose to view by digging away a covering
They've excavated an ancient city.
2
: to hollow out : form a hole in
Workers excavated the side of a hill.
3
: to make by hollowing out
We must excavate a tunnel.
4
: to dig out and remove
Miners excavate diamonds.
excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
| \ ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
\
\
excavated;
excavating
Medical Definition of excavate
: to form a cavity or hole in
an excavated wisdom tooth
: to make excavations or become hollowed out
an area of infarction in soft tissue often tends to excavate
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