FluentPlex

excavate

/ˈɛk.skə.veɪt/ verb C1
  1. To make a hole in (something); to hollow. (transitive)
  2. To remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out. (transitive)
  3. To uncover (something) by digging. (transitive)

He/she/it excavates · Past excavated · Past participle excavated · -ing form excavating

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Verb forms

Base form
excavate
He/she/it
excavates
Past
excavated
Past participle
excavated
-ing form
excavating

From the library

The fresh earth excavated during their present work, and which would have entirely blocked up the old passage, was thrown, by degrees and with the utmost precaution, out of the window in either Faria’s or Dantès’ cell, the rubbish being first pulverized so finely that the night wind carried it far away without permitting the smallest trace to remain.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 175 · C1
He has been excavating a barrow at Long Down and has got a prehistoric skull which fills him with great joy.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, p. 97 · C1
To overcome these natural obstacles, the workforce excavated hundreds of miles of complex tunnels through solid granite.
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, p. 1 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.