excavation Hear it!

excavation Definition

ex·ca·va·tion (eks′kə vās̸hən)

noun

  1. an excavating or being excavated
  2. a hole or hollow made by excavating
  3. something unearthed by excavating

Etymology: L excavatio

excavation Synonyms

excavation

n.

  1. The act of excavating

    digging, unearthing, disinterring, mining, quarrying, exhuming, scooping out, digging out, scouring, shoveling, blasting, removal, digging a basement, digging a foundation, using a back hoe, using a trencher, cut and fill, stoping, burrowing, tunneling, pick and shoveling*, mucking out*.

  2. The result of excavating

    hole, cavity, hollow, pit; see hole 3. See syn. study at hole.

excavation Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • undertake: Much work still to be undertaken, mainly excavation.
  • conduct: In 1960 her team cleared the interior and conducted excavations in and around the basilica.
  • commence: National Grid intends to commence excavations for the construction of the line itself in mid-late January and construction activities will continue throughout the year.

Converse of subject

  • uncover: The listing should include records of skeletal material uncovered by excavation and subsequently re-buried on the site.

Adjective modifier

  • archeological: However, recent archeological excavations show Saxon women are more often buried with pairs of saucer brooches.
  • illicit: There is a specific provision against treasure hunting, illicit excavation and dealing in antiquities ( Article 51 - 52 ).
  • Recent: Recent excavations revealed a cemetery of over 800 burials dating from the late Roman period through to the Norman conquest.
  • small-scale: In addition, small-scale excavation on some of the sites has identified important sites of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age date.
  • large-scale: Despite controversial proposals in the 1980s, the academic case for further large-scale excavation on the southern part of the amphitheater is not overwhelming.
  • exploratory: The DGLA kindly invited some HADAS members to visit the site to see their exploratory excavations.

Modifies a noun

  • trench: The main excavation trench examined the major ditch that runs northwards from Rocky Clump.

Noun used with modifier

  • rescue: Looks at the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon village and at a rescue excavation in Worcester.
  • basement: The Ham & High reports on the number of basement excavations currently taking place in the posh suburb.
  • trial: Trial excavations on local sites in West Kent to solve specific research problems.

Preposition: of

  • trench: In 1988 a watching brief was carried out during the excavation of a trench for an electricity cable to light the ticket office.
  • barrow: The excavation of eighteen round barrows near Shrewton, Wiltshire.
  • cairn: The excavation of a Neolithic long cairn of the Cotswold-Severn group.
  • ditch: The excavation of the barrow ditch is going quite well but heavy rain showers most days have slowed our progress.
  • pit: Also the start of excavation of the large pit that cuts through the hypocaust on its eastern side.
  • tomb: His most recent fictional book, First light, has as its central theme the excavation of a fictitious megalithic tomb in Dorset.
excavation Quotes

The process of poetry is one of excavation and of self- discovery.

—Walcott, Derek Alton

Browse dictionary entries near excavation

  1. excavate
  2. Excalibur
  3. exc
  4. exasperation
  5. exasperate
  6. exarchate
  7. exarch
  8. exanthem
  9. exanimate
  10. example
  1. excavator
  2. exceed
  3. exceeding
  4. exceedingly
  5. excel
  6. excellence
  7. excellency
  8. excellent
  9. excellently
  10. excelling