excavation

CEFRC1

/ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The process of digging out earth or a hole.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.

Examples

  • Human remains were found during the excavation.

  • I used to own an excavation business, and run backhoes.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass.

  2. Especially, the trade of digging engineered holes for building foundations, roadbed preparations, and similar purposes.

  3. An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.

More examples

In context

  • The anthropologist is piecing together pottery shards she unearthed at the excavation site.

  • […] to cart away the excavations from the work, and to recart the same back again so far as required to fill the trench over the sewer […]

  • Near-synonyms: hollowing out, hollowing

Synonyms

Quick test

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Nearby

Origin

noun

From Latin excavātiō (“a hollowing out”), from excavō (“to hollow out”), from ex + cavō (“to hollow out”), from cavus (“hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“vault, hole”). Equivalent to excavate + -ion.