excavate

/ˈɛkskəˌveɪt/
verb
  1. To dig out and remove earth, rock, or other material from the ground, especially to uncover something buried or to create a hole or tunnel.
    • Archaeologists carefully excavate ancient ruins to learn about past civilizations.
    • Workers used heavy machinery to excavate a large pit for the new swimming pool.
    • The construction crew will excavate the site before building the foundation.
  2. To uncover or reveal something by digging it out of the ground.
    • Scientists excavated a perfectly preserved mammoth tusk from the ice.
    • The team hopes to excavate a complete dinosaur skeleton this summer.
    • Volunteers helped excavate pottery fragments from the old village site.
Antonyms
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