Excavation — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

the act of digging

the site of an archeological exploration

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/ˌɛkskəvˈeɪʃən/

🇬🇧British English

/ˌɛkskəvˈeɪʃən/

🇮🇳Indian English

/ˌɛkskəvˈeɪʃən/

4 syllables Say it as /ˌɛkskəvˈeɪʃən/.

Examples

there's an interesting excavation going on near Princeton
they set up camp next to the dig

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

digging dig archeological site mining

Parts of Speech

noun	the act of digging “there's an interesting excavation going on near Princeton”
noun	the site of an archeological exploration “they set up camp next to the dig”
noun	a hole in the ground made by excavating
noun	the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth

Word Forms

excavate	verb	recover through digging
dig	verb	turn up, loosen, or remove earth
mine	verb	get from the earth by excavation

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Ausgrabung

der Akt des Grabens

🇪🇸Spanish

excavación

el acto de cavar

🇮🇹Italian

scavo

l'atto di scavare

🇳🇱Dutch

opgraving

de handeling van het graven

🇵🇹Portuguese

escavação

o ato de cavar

🇷🇺Russian

раскопки

акт копания

India

🇮🇳Hindi

उत्खनन

खोदने की क्रिया

🇧🇩Bengali

খনন

খনন কাজ

🇮🇳Tamil

அகழ்வாராய்ச்சி

தோண்டுதல் செயல்

🇮🇳Telugu

తవ్వకం

త్రవ్వే చర్య

🇮🇳Marathi

उत्खनन

खोदण्याची क्रिया

🇮🇳Gujarati

ખોદકામ

ખોદવાની ક્રિયા

🇮🇳Kannada

ಉತ್ಖನನ

ಅಗೆಯುವ ಕ್ರಿಯೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ഉത്ഖനനം

കുഴിക്കുന്ന പ്രവൃത്തി

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਖੁਦਾਈ

ਖੁਦਾਈ ਦਾ ਕੰਮ

🇵🇰Urdu

کھدائی

کھدائی کا عمل

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

挖掘

挖掘的行为

🇯🇵Japanese

発掘

掘るという行為

🇰🇷Korean

발굴

땅을 파는 행위

🇻🇳Vietnamese

moi lên

hành động đào

🇹🇭Thai

การขุดค้น

การขุด

🇮🇩Indonesian

penggalian

tindakan menggali

🇵🇭Filipino

paghuhukay

ang gawa ng paghuhukay

🇲🇾Malay

penggalian

perbuatan menggali

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

التنقيب

فعل الحفر

🇮🇷Persian

حفاری

عمل حفاری

🇹🇷Turkish

kazı

kazma eylemi

🇮🇱Hebrew

חֲפִירָה

פעולת החפירה

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'excavation'?

The primary meaning of 'excavation' is 'the act of digging'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'excavation' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'excavation' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'excavation' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'excavation' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'excavation' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'excavation' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'excavation' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'excavation' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'excavation' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'excavation' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted