v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Excavated p. pr. & vb. n. Excavating ] [ L. excavatus, p. p. of excavare to excavate; ex out + cavare to make hollow, cavus hollow. See Cave. ] 1. To hollow out; to form cavity or hole in; to make hollow by cutting, scooping, or digging; as, to excavate a ball; to excavate the earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To form by hollowing; to shape, as a cavity, or anything that is hollow; as, to excavate a canoe, a cellar, a channel. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Engin.) To dig out and remove, as earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

The material excavated was usually sand. E. L. Corthell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Excavating pump, a kind of dredging apparatus for excavating under water, in which silt and loose material mixed with water are drawn up by a pump. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. excavatio: cf. F. excavation. ] 1. The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping. “A winding excavation.” Glover. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Engin.) (a) An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel. (b) The material dug out in making a channel or cavity. [ 1913 Webster ]

The delivery of the excavations at a distance of 250 feet. E. L. Corthell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, excavates or hollows out; a machine, as a dredging machine, or a tool, for excavating. [ 1913 Webster ]