to make a hole, tunnel, or cavity in the ground or other material by removing it
Construction workers will excavate the foundation for the new house.
The miners excavated a new shaft in the hillside.
✦ From Latin excavāre, from ex- (“out, away”) + cavāre (“to hollow out”).
to uncover or expose by digging away the surrounding earth
Archaeologists excavated a buried pyramid in the desert.
The team excavated ancient tools from the cave floor.
