excavateex‧ca‧vate /ˈekskəveɪt/ verb [intransitive, transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
Schliemann excavated the ancient city of Troy.► see thesaurus at dig2formal to make a hole in the ground by digging up soil etc—excavation /ˌekskəˈveɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]
Word OriginWORD ORIGINexcavate
Verb TableOrigin:
1500-1600 Latin past participle of excavare, from cavus ‘hollow’VERB TABLE
excavate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | excavate |
| he, she, it | excavates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | excavated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have excavated |
| he, she, it | has excavated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had excavated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will excavate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have excavated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am excavating |
| he, she, it | is excavating | |
| you, we, they | are excavating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was excavating |
| you, we, they | were excavating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been excavating |
| he, she, it | has been excavating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been excavating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be excavating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been excavating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Archaeologists are excavating a Bronze Age settlement on the outskirts of the village.
- The mosaics excavated in 1989 have now been fully restored.
- The turtle excavates a hole in the sand and then lays its eggs in it.
- Work is under way to excavate the ancient city.
- Workers had already begun excavating the foundations for the house.
- A very large amount of gravel would be excavated to form the channel.
- As on land, ocean impact explosions excavate huge craters.
- For a time he worked with archaeologists from the University of California excavating ruins near Kayenta, Arizona.
- The site, needed for a parking lot, was entombed without being excavated.
- The stone-lined privy pit was excavated a year ago by an archaeology field class from City College.
- Until recently new pits were continually being excavated while others are being filled with refuse.
THESAURUS► dig
Collocations to make a hole in the ground using your hands, a tool, or a machine: · Some workmen were digging a trench at the side of the road.· In Africa, the people know where to dig for water.
► make a hole to dig a hole in the ground, using your hands or a tool: · Make a hole just big enough for the plant’s roots.
► burrow if an animal burrows, it makes a hole or a passage in the ground by digging the earth with its feet, nose etc: · The rabbits had burrowed a hole under the fence.
► plough British English, plow American English to turn over the soil using a machine or a tool pulled by animals, to prepare the soil for planting seeds: · The farmers here still plough their fields using buffaloes.
► excavate formal to dig a large hole in the ground, especially as a preparation for building something: · The men began excavating the hole for the pool.
► bore to make a deep round hole in the ground using a special machine, especially in order to look for oil or water: · Companies need a special licence to bore for oil.
Longman Language Activatorto remove something from the ground by digging► dig out to remove something that is just below or partly below the surface of the ground by digging: dig somebody/something out: · What do we do with these trees after we've dug them out?· The spade was missing, and we had no choice but to dig the weeds out by hand.dig out something: · A couple of local people helped us dig out the car, which was by now completely stuck in the mud.
► dig up to dig, and remove something from the ground that is buried or that is growing there: dig up something: · Thieves came in the night and dug up the body.· I don't know why archaeologists get such a thrill from digging up broken pots.dig something up: · Squirrels bury hundreds of nuts, then dig them up in winter when food is scarce.
► excavate to remove ancient objects from the ground or uncover ancient houses, villages etc, by taking away the earth carefully: · Archaeologists are excavating a Bronze Age settlement on the outskirts of the village.· The mosaics excavated in 1989 have now been fully restored.
► mine to take minerals such as coal, iron, or diamonds out of the ground, especially by digging a deep hole and a series of passages: · Lead has been mined in this area for hundreds of years.· The church was built by Don José de la Borda, who made his fortune mining silver.mine for gold/silver etc: · Most of the new settlers came here to mine for gold.
to dig earth out of the ground► dig to make a hole in the ground, using your hands, a tool, or a machine: · I found two dogs digging in the garden, looking for bones.· He was paid twelve dollars an hour to dig ditches and mix cement.dig for something (=in order to find something): · There were two fishermen on the beach digging for worms.dig a hole/ditch/grave etc: · The workmen began digging a hole in the middle of the road.· Some of the prisoners escaped through a tunnel they had dug under the wall.
► excavate formal: excavate a hole/chamber/trench etc to dig a deep or large hole, especially as a preparation for building something: · The turtle excavates a hole in the sand and then lays its eggs in it.· Workers had already begun excavating the foundations for the house.
► tunnel to dig a long passage under the ground, especially one that people or vehicles can go through: tunnel under/beneath/through etc: · Special drilling equipment is being used to tunnel beneath the sea bed.· worms tunnelling through the mudtunnel your way out/through/under etc: · After days of digging, the prisoners finally tunnelled their way out of the camp and escaped.
► burrow if an animal burrows , it makes a passage under the ground by digging through the earth as it moves forward: burrow into/under/through: · Toads burrow into the earth to hide from their enemies.burrow a hole: · The rabbits had burrowed a hole under the fence.
► plough British /plow American to turn over the earth in a field using a special tool or machine in order to prepare it for growing crops: · The fields are ploughed as soon as the winter crop is removed.· Farmers were plowing their land and planting cotton seeds.
WORD SETS► Archaeologycarbon dating, nouncaveman, noundig, nounexcavate, verbexcavator, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN► archaeologist
1if a scientist or archaeologist excavates an area of land, they dig carefully to find ancient objects, bones etc: · The archaeologist will often be excavating a single site.· If archaeologists subsequently excavate that shifted material, they need to be able to recognize that it is in a secondary context.· There are two potential problems that archaeologists can have when excavating putative glass furnaces.
► site· The archaeologist will often be excavating a single site.· Archaeologists excavate sites carefully and record everything they see and find.· Time allowed 07:09 Read in studio Archaeologists excavating the site of a medieval leper hospital have unearthed a Roman cemetery.· He started excavating the site in 1961, and the dramatic nature of his discovery soon became clear.· Local people called on the government to excavate the site and to protect the remains.· In some cases it may help clarify the function of different parts of an excavated site as well.
Schliemann excavated the ancient city of Troy.► see thesaurus at dig2formal to make a hole in the ground by digging up soil etc—excavation /ˌekskəˈveɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]