Excavation: meaning, definitions and examples

Generally used when referring to professional or large-scale digging projects, often archaeological or construction-related.

• The excavation of the ancient city revealed many historical artifacts.
• The construction team began the excavation for the new building's foundation.

Refers to the continuous action of digging and can be used for any kind of manual labor involving digging.

• He spent the whole afternoon digging in the garden.
• The workers are digging a trench for the new pipeline.

Commonly used in everyday language for any act of digging, from gardening to small-scale digging tasks. It can also be a noun referring to an archaeological site or a gentle joke or insult.

• She decided to dig a hole to plant the new tree.
• They went on a dig and found some old pottery pieces.

Used similarly to 'excavation', but emphasizes the action rather than the project as a whole. Often used in technical or formal contexts.

• The team is currently excavating the eastern part of the site.
• Excavating the area requires careful planning and precision.

Used when referring to an organized project or process to uncover something, often used in archaeology, construction, or paleontology.

• The excavation revealed ancient pottery and tools.
• The company conducted an extensive excavation before building the new skyscraper.

The process or action of making a hole by using tools or hands, informal and used in everyday situations.

• She spent the afternoon digging in the garden.
• Digging the trench took several hours.

Can be a noun or a verb. As a verb, it means using tools or hands to move earth, sand, or other material. As a noun, it might refer to an informal or small-scale excavation, sometimes used in archaeology or even in everyday settings.

• He wants to dig a hole for the new tree.
• The archeology students went on a dig and discovered some artifacts.

Similar to 'excavation', this is the action of removing earth carefully and systematically, often in an archaeological, engineering, or historical context.

• They are excavating the site to look for more dinosaur fossils.
• Excavating old ruins requires a lot of precision and patience.

This word is used when referring to the process of digging up and removing earth, rocks, or other materials, usually at a construction site or archaeological dig.

• The construction team started the excavation for the new building's foundation.
• Archaeologists made a significant discovery during the excavation of the ancient city.

This term is commonly used when talking about passing a substance through a device or material to remove impurities or unwanted elements, frequently used in contexts like water purification or data processing.

• Filtering the water before drinking it ensures that it's free from harmful bacteria.
• The software has a built-in feature for filtering spam emails.

This term is used specifically for the process of shaking or passing a substance through a sieve to separate desired elements, often found in cooking or mining.

• Sifting the flour before adding it to the mix helps to remove any lumps.
• The miners spent the day sifting through the gravel to find traces of gold.

This word is appropriate when discussing the action of dividing or moving things apart, often used in physical separation of materials or emotional contexts.

• Separating the wheat from the chaff is an essential step in grain processing.
• The teacher is separating the students into groups for the project.