*excavate*

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 ]