as in to dig
to hollow out or form (something) by removing earth
workmen are excavating a long tunnel that will eventually replace the aboveground expressway
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Recent Examples of excavate
Archeologists initially excavated it (and its owner) around 1902 at Nuwayrat, a village roughly 165 miles south of Cairo.
—
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 July 2025
Because the city didn’t keep accurate records of repairs, a judge ordered officials to visually check thousands of properties that had been excavated.
—Michael Phillis, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2025
First responders located a trench approximately 90 feet long, five feet wide and five feet deep that been excavated to connect a private residence’s sewer system to the city sewer line, Wright said.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2025
In the 1920s, archaeologists excavating the necropolis of Deir el-Bahri near Luxor, Egypt, found many broken statues of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut—one of the civilization’s few female pharaohs.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for excavate
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 July 2025
Because the city didn’t keep accurate records of repairs, a judge ordered officials to visually check thousands of properties that had been excavated.
—Michael Phillis, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2025
First responders located a trench approximately 90 feet long, five feet wide and five feet deep that been excavated to connect a private residence’s sewer system to the city sewer line, Wright said.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2025
In the 1920s, archaeologists excavating the necropolis of Deir el-Bahri near Luxor, Egypt, found many broken statues of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut—one of the civilization’s few female pharaohs.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for excavate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excavate
Verb
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Support journalism that digs deeper into topics that matter most to Arkansans.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
14 July 2025
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Circularity done properly is more efficient and cheaper than dig and dump.—
Clem Chambers,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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The 41-year-old shoveled 70.5 hot dogs and buns into his mouth in just 10 minutes.—
Logan Holland,
People.com,
4 July 2025
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Carlyle shovels her walk and goes home, and the next day learns that Elizabeth Reuben committed suicide by leaving the gas on the night before.—
Benjamin Hale
June 23,
Literary Hub,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Excavate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excavate. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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