\Ex"ca*vate\, 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.
2. To form by hollowing; to shape, as a cavity, or anything
   that is hollow; as, to excavate a canoe, a cellar, a
   channel.
3. (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.