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Definitions

excavate

[eks-kuh-vayt] / ˈɛks kəˌveɪt /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Katy Waldman went down the rabbit hole to excavate this weird chapter of internet history.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

But "there were no opportunities to excavate" the suspected sites, he told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

His best work tunneled into life’s darkest spaces to excavate ideas about our fears and obsessions, often reflected through dazzling practical effects that matched the naturalism of his greatest feature: a singularly expressive, malleable face.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026

The intersection remained closed Sunday as crews worked to excavate and repair the line.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026

Because the wreck lies so deep in the sea, it will probably take years before the equipment is in place to excavate it.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

As Chelsey excavates the details of Rika’s biography, she explores the blank spaces and lingering questions surrounding her own obscured origins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

In her 1987 essay, “The Site of Memory,” she utilized a river as a metaphor to discuss how imagination excavates forgotten histories and people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Here, Travolta excavates truth from fiction, and fiction from truth; in his eyes, reality is manufactured with a sprinkle of both.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

His team excavates the rubble with care, aware that they are searching for fragments of broken humanity.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2025

The Halictus parallelus excavates cells almost exactly like those of Andrena; but since the bee is smaller, the holes are smaller, though as deep.

From Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses by A. S. (Alpheus Spring) Packard

They were excavated for UC Berkeley 126 years ago at the site of the ancient city of Tebtunis.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

The bulk of the canal's construction work involved widening, deepening and modifying existing waterways, while a small section had to be excavated, Xinhua said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Museum paleontologists excavated some 70% of Thomas’s fossilized skeleton in the early 2000s, making it one of the most complete T. rex specimens ever found.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Today, the excavated base of the Templo Mayor, the step pyramid topped with altars to the Aztec gods of war and rain, is an open-air archaeological site.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

He toppled down a set of steps and sprawled on the floor of an excavated Roman basement.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Lomax, an Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Manchester and an 1851 Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, first worked alongside Cliff and his wife, Sandy, while excavating dinosaur fossils as a teenager.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

In Omaha, he cycled through various careers: He started his own excavating business, then began farming, with Warren Buffett later purchasing a farm for him to work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Nepal rescuers are still excavating hydropower tunnels swamped by freezing mud, with hundreds of workers among the missing.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

Now, he's excavating his diary to write about his rural upbringing and experiences of working in Las Vegas casinos.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

On July 3, 1908, archaeologists excavating the ancient Minoan palace at Phaistos, on the island of Crete, chanced upon one of the most remarkable objects in the history of technology.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond


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