excavator

[ eks-kuh-vey-ter ]

noun

1. a person or thing that excavates.
2. a power-driven machine for digging, moving, or transporting loose gravel, sand, or soil.
3. a sharp, spoonlike instrument used for scraping out diseased tissue, as in dentistry.

Word History and Origins

Origin of excavator¹

First recorded in 1805–15; excavate + -or ²

Example Sentences

Nearby, a yellow Caterpillar excavator sits idle next to an opening that once led into a cross-border tunnel.

From The Daily Beast

One interesting case study is Sir Arthur Evans, the original excavator and “restorer” of the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete.

From The Daily Beast

If they are Ancients and dead then let them be buried and left to the archæological excavator.

From Project Gutenberg

He must have been an erudite excavator, but, in literature, a reader only of recent minor poetry.

From Project Gutenberg

That is, he said he was an excavator, but I never saw anything before that looked at all like him.

From Project Gutenberg

The Red Ant (Myrmica rubra) plies, according to circumstances, the trade of a mason or excavator.

From Project Gutenberg

The steam shovel, or steam excavator, is a modified form of dredge adapted for excavating material on dry land.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• backhoe
• bulldozer
• digger