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Webster 1913 Edition
Excavate
Ex′ca-vate
,Verb.
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.2.
To form by hollowing; to shape, as a cavity, or anything that is hollow;
as, to
. excavate
a canoe, a cellar, a channel3.
(Engin.)
To dig out and remove, as earth.
The material
excavated
was usually sand. E. L. Corthell.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Excavate
EX'CAVATE
,Verb.
T.
To hollow; to cut, scoop, dig or wear out the inner part of any thing and make it hollow; as, to excavate a ball; to excavate the earth; to excavate the trunk of a tree and form a canoe.