excavate
To make a hole in; to hollowTo make a hole in (something); to hollow.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Tom owns an excavating company.
CarpeLanam · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
3 languagesExamples
17 sentencesTom owns an excavating company.
The team excavates carefully for the archaeologists.
The site has never been excavated properly.
Meaning
3 senses(transitive)To make a hole in (something); to hollow.
(transitive)To remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out.
(transitive)To uncover (something) by digging.
- recover through digging
- find by digging in the ground
- form by hollowing
- remove the inner part or the core of
Origin
First attested in 1599, from Latin excavātus (“hollowed out”), perfect passive participleFirst attested in 1599, from Latin excavātus (“hollowed out”), perfect passive participle of excavō (“to hollow out”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out”) + cavō (“to hollow out, pierce”), from cavus (“cave, hole”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
excavates, excavating, excavated, excavatedTenses
excavate · excavated · will excavate · have excavatedPoint at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.
Synonyms
5 synonymsWord family
6 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.