excavation
/ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃn/ noun
Forms excavations
- noun (uncountable) The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass.
- noun Especially, the trade of digging engineered holes for building foundations, roadbed preparations, and similar purposes.
- noun (countable) A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.
- noun (countable) An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.
- noun (countable) The material dug out in making a channel or cavity.
- noun (uncountable) Archaeological research that unearths buildings, tombs and objects of historical value.
- noun (countable) A site where an archaeological exploration is being carried out.
- noun (countable) Something uncovered by archaeological excavation.
Synonyms
hollowing out hollowing digging dig archeological site mining
Etymology
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass.
- noun A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping. "A winding excavation." Glover.
Etymology [L. excavatio: cf. F. excavation.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “excavation”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details