Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of excavare, from cavus 'hollow'

excavate

 verb
     
Related topics: Archaeology
ex‧ca‧vate [intransitive and transitive]
1SX if a scientist or archaeologist excavates an area of land, they dig carefully to find ancient objects, bones etc:
Schliemann excavated the ancient city of Troy.
2 formal to make a hole in the ground by digging up soil etc
—excavation noun [uncountable and countable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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