Definitions for excavate
ˈɛks kəˌveɪtex·ca·vate

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. excavate, unearthverb

   recover through digging

   "Schliemann excavated Troy"; "excavate gold"

2. excavate, dig up, turn upverb

   find by digging in the ground

   "I dug up an old box in the garden"

3. excavateverb

   form by hollowing

   "Carnegie had a lake excavated for Princeton University's rowing team"; "excavate a cavity"

4. excavate, dig, hollowverb

   remove the inner part or the core of

   "the mining company wants to excavate the hillside"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. excavateverb

   To make a hole in (something); to hollow.

2. excavateverb

   To remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out.

3. excavateverb

   To uncover (something) by removing its covering.

4. Etymology: Known since 1599, from excavatus, perfect passive participle of excavo, from ex + cavo, from cavus.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To EXCAVATEverb

   To hollow; to cut into hollows.

   Etymology: excavo, Latin.

   The cups, gilt with a golden border about the brim, were of that wonderful smalness, that Faber put a thousand of them into an excavated pepper-corn. John Ray, on the Creation.

   Though nitrous tempests, and clandestine death,
   Fill’d the deep caves, and num’rous vaults beneath,
   Which form’d with art, and wrought with endless toil,
   Ran through the faithless excavated soil,
   See the unweary’d Briton delves his way,
   And to the caverns lets in war and day. Richard Blackmore, Creation.

   Flat thecæ, some like hats, some like buttons, excavated in the middle. William Derham, Physico-Theology.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. excavate

   Excavate is a verb that is generally defined as the process of making a hole or cavity by removing a large quantity of soil or rock, often with the intent of unearthing artifacts or for construction purposes like laying a foundation. It can also refer to uncovering or bringing to light something that has been hidden or lost.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Excavateverb

   to hollow out; to form cavity or hole in; to make hollow by cutting, scooping, or digging; as, to excavate a ball; to excavate the earth

2. Excavateverb

   to form by hollowing; to shape, as a cavity, or anything that is hollow; as, to excavate a canoe, a cellar, a channel

3. Excavateverb

   to dig out and remove, as earth

4. Etymology: [L. excavatus, p. p. of excavare to excavate; ex out + cavare to make hollow, cavus hollow. See Cave.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Excavate

   The excavates are a major subgroup of unicellular eukaryotes, often known as Excavata. The phylogenetic category Excavata, proposed by Cavalier-Smith in 2002, contains a variety of free-living and symbiotic forms, and also includes some important parasites of humans.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Excavate

   eks′ka-vāt, v.t. to hollow or scoop out: to dig out.—ns. Excavā′tion, act of excavating: a hollow or cavity made by excavating; Ex′cavator, one who excavates: a machine used for excavating. [L. excavāre—ex, out, cavus, hollow.]

EntomologyRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Excavate

   with a depression that is not the segment of a circle.

Matched Categories

1. • Hollow
   • Remove

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce excavate?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

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   Mark

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   Daniel

   British

   Libby

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   Mia

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   Australian

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   Neerja

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   Oliver

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   Wendy

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   Fred

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   Tessa

   South African

How to say excavate in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of excavate in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of excavate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of excavate in a Sentence

1. Nicholas Reeves:

   The key is to excavate slowly and carefully and record well. The fact is this isn't a race. All archaeology is disruption. We can't go back and re-do it, so we have to do it well in the first place, i’m feeling more certain today than I expected to be.

2. Director Anne Vogel:

   This is so critically important to moving on to next steps. We can now excavate additional contaminated soil and began installing monitoring wells.

3. Ric Gillespie:

   If we were continuing to excavate the castaway campsite at the southeast end of the atoll I would say that we could ‘expect’ to make further discoveries, it’s an established archaeological site where we know a castaway died - apparently female and of Earhart’s height and ethnic origin - and where we have found artifacts that speak of an American woman of the 1930s.

4. Mark Milburn:

   When we find cannons, we’re quite excited because, if we’re allowed to excavate around them, there will be ‘concretions’ of items near the cannon from when the ship sank.

5. Jeremy DeSilva:

   Mary Leakey made exquisitely detailed maps of the footprint localities. From Mary Leakey map, we were able to approximate where the tracks should be. We began to dig, hoping for the best, but fearing instead that forty years of seasonal rains had washed them away, the soil was hard as cement and it took a hammer and chisel to reach the footprint layer, which we then needed to excavate delicately with a hard-bristled brush and tongue depressor. Fortunately, the footprints were beautifully preserved.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=excavate
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Excavate
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=excavate
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excavate
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=excavate
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=excavate
8. ^ Entomology
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22748/22748-h/22748-h.htm#:~:text=excavate
9. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=excavate