excavate

1. V-T When archaeologists or other people excavate a piece of land, they remove earth carefully from it and look for things such as pots, bones, or buildings that are buried there, in order to discover information about the past. 挖掘 (古物)

A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麥考察隊(duì)又在對那個(gè)地方進(jìn)行年度的夏季挖掘。

2. excavationN-VAR 挖掘

She worked on the excavation of a Mayan archaeological site. 她那時(shí)從事一個(gè)瑪雅考古遺址的挖掘工作。

3. V-T To excavate means to dig a hole in the ground, for example, in order to build there. 挖; 開鑿

A contractor was hired to drain the reservoir and to excavate soil from one area for replacement with clay. 一個(gè)承包商被雇來排干蓄水池里的水，然后挖出其中一塊地方的泥土，換上粘土。

4. excavationN-VAR 挖; 開鑿

...the excavation of canals. …運(yùn)河的開鑿。