from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Excavate \Ex"ca*vate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Excavated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Excavating}.] [L. excavatus, p. p. of excavare to
excavate; ex out + cavare to make hollow, cavus hollow. See
{Cave}.]
1. To hollow out; to form cavity or hole in; to make hollow
by cutting, scooping, or digging; as, to excavate a ball;
to excavate the earth.
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2. To form by hollowing; to shape, as a cavity, or anything
that is hollow; as, to excavate a canoe, a cellar, a
channel.
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3. (Engin.) To dig out and remove, as earth.
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The material excavated was usually sand. --E. L.
Corthell.
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{Excavating pump}, a kind of dredging apparatus for
excavating under water, in which silt and loose material
mixed with water are drawn up by a pump. --Knight.
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