excavate

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To make a hole in (something); to hollow.
2. (transitive) To remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out.
3. (transitive) To uncover (something) by digging.

Adj

1. (not-comparable, rare) Made hollow.
2. (not-comparable, obsolete) excavated, hollowed out

Noun

Any member of a major grouping of unicellular eukaryotes, of the clade Excavata.

Synonyms

dig

hollow

dig up

delve

dig out

unearth

mine

burrow

grub

turn up

drill

dredge

hollow out

sink

trench

quarry

bore

hole

🕳️

scoop out

down

drill into

drive

drop

enervate

enfeeble

evoke

excavating

excavation

exhaust

exhume

go through

gouge

gouge out

grave

🪦

grub out

grub up

hack

hew

hoe

humiliate

investigate

kill

🔪🩸👤

liquidate

mortify

overcome

overthrow

pass through

perforate

poke into

pull down

abase

quarrying

quiet

quiten

ream

root

rout

sap

scoop

scoop up

shoot

shoot dead

shovel

slaughter

slay

soothe

still

stope

surmount

tackle

take down

take out

tranquilize

use up

vanquish

weaken

win over

dredge up

dig through

rootle

rout up

make hollow

winning and opening

mining work

punch

👊

appease

assuage

beat

breakdown

butcher

calm

cave

chop

cover

cut

cut off

defeat

demolish

depress

dig into

discourage

discover

dishearten

Translations

excaver

excavar

creuser

scavare

ausgraben

déterrer

aushöhlen

delven

ausheben

uithollen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɛk.skə.veɪt/

Etymology

First 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.