excavator
Americannoun
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a person or thing that excavates.
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a power-driven machine for digging, moving, or transporting loose gravel, sand, or soil.
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a sharp, spoonlike instrument used for scraping out diseased tissue, as in dentistry.
noun
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a powered machine for digging earth, gravel, sand, etc, esp a caterpillar tractor so equipped
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any person, animal, or thing that excavates
Etymology
Origin of excavator
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the meantime, Interlune is testing an autonomous excavator and building a research factory in Texas.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
“Gentry Engineering and Gentry were aware of the danger of a rock strike by the excavator and failed to take action to prevent a fire,” the lawsuit alleges.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026
Behind her were two 20-tonne narrowboats waiting to be rescued by an imposing winch machine in a nearby field with the help of a specialist excavator.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
"We've gained access to an agricultural field through negotiation with the farmer, we've got a fantastic machine called a Menzi Muck, which is actually a walking excavator," Hardin said.
From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026
It had left a trail of destruction wider than a tunnel excavator.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.