excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
ˈek-skə-ˌvāt 
excavated; excavating
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
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.
Recent Examples on the Web
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Civil work has finished at six out of eight stations in Gujarat, while Mumbai's underground terminus at Bandra Kurla Complex is 75 percent excavated.
—
Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
In May, a team excavated the Senja site and identified it as a roughly 1,000-year-old Viking boat grave, the museum said.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 4 June 2025
This information has to be excavated, for lack of a better word, with values testing.
—Suzy Welch, CNBC, 4 June 2025
While some of these notes use Church Slavonic, most of them are written in a vernacular dialect and many recount personal matters and everyday happenings
Less than 3 percent of the Medieval settlement has actually been excavated systematically.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for excavate
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.
Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
In May, a team excavated the Senja site and identified it as a roughly 1,000-year-old Viking boat grave, the museum said.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 4 June 2025
This information has to be excavated, for lack of a better word, with values testing.
—Suzy Welch, CNBC, 4 June 2025
While some of these notes use Church Slavonic, most of them are written in a vernacular dialect and many recount personal matters and everyday happenings
Less than 3 percent of the Medieval settlement has actually been excavated systematically.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for excavate
Cite this Entry
“Excavate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excavate. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
excavated; excavating
1
: to hollow out : form a hole in
excavate the side of a hill
2
: to make by hollowing out
excavate a tunnel
3
: to dig out and remove
excavate sand
4
: to uncover by digging away covering earth
excavate an ancient city
excavator
noun
-ˌvāt-ər
Medical Definition
excavate
verb
ex·ca·vate
ˈek-skə-ˌvāt
excavated; excavating
: 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share