excavation
noun/ˌekskəˈveɪʃn/
/ˌekskəˈveɪʃn/
- [countable, uncountable] the activity of digging in the ground to look for old buildings or objects that have been buried for a long time
- Further archaeological excavations are now being carried out.
- More discoveries were made as the excavation proceeded.
- The excavations took place between 1925 and 1939.
- recent excavations of underground burial chambers
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- archaeological
- recent
- extensive
- …
- carry out
- conduct
- do
- …
- reveal something
- uncover something
- unearth something
- …
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- [countable, usually plural] a place where people are digging to look for old buildings or objects
- The excavations are open to the public.
- [uncountable] the act of digging, especially with a machine
Word Originearly 17th cent.: from French, or from Latin excavatio(n-), from excavare ‘hollow out’, from ex- ‘out’ + cavare ‘make or become hollow’ (from cavus ‘hollow’).
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excavation