excavate

excavate

Pronunciation: ⁄ˈɛkskəveɪt⁄

verb

[with object]

·              1make (a hole or channel) by digging:

the cheapest way of doing this was to excavate a long trench

·    dig out material from (the ground):

the ground was largely excavated by hand

·    extract (material) from the ground by digging:

a large amount of gravel would be excavated to form the channel

·              2remove earth carefully from (an area) in order to find buried remains:

the site was excavated in 1975

·    reveal or extract (buried remains) while excavating an area:

clothing and weapons were excavated from the burial site