excavation

noun excavations

1. uncountable The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass. Near-synonyms: hollowing out, hollowing

   Similar: hollowing out, hollowing

2. countable, uncountable Especially, the trade of digging engineered holes for building foundations, roadbed preparations, and similar purposes.

   Similar: hollowing out, hollowing

3. countable A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping. Prof. Dainelli made a personal study of the lakes of the Upper Indus lying between its confluence with the Gilgit on the west and the plains of Kashmir on the east. From this district he cites fifty lakes and groups of lakes. Many of these are moraine-dammed, but some of the larger ones, as the Satp
4. countable An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.
5. countable The material dug out in making a channel or cavity. […] to cart away the excavations from the work, and to recart the same back again so far as required to fill the trench over the sewer […]
6. uncountable Archaeological research that unearths buildings, tombs and objects of historical value.
7. countable A site where an archaeological exploration is being carried out. Gregory led the excavations alongside marine archaeologist Andreas Kallmeyer Bloch, who is also a curator at the National Museum. “It’s been a long process and I’ve come close to giving up along the way, but this is undoubtedly the craziest archaeological excavation I’ve yet been part of,” Bloch sai
8. countable Something uncovered by archaeological excavation. To date, [Taco's 1982 cover of Irving Berlin's 1935] "Cheek To Cheek" and similar auditory excavations have fared poorly.
9. countable, figuratively, uncountable The act of discovering and exposing or developing (a quality). Chua looks at the landscape of childhood rather like a mining engineer looks at a pristine landscape—ripe for the excavation of talent.