EXCAVATOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does excavator mean? 

• EXCAVATOR (noun)
  The noun EXCAVATOR has 2 senses:

1. a workman who excavates for foundations of buildings or for quarrying

2. a machine for excavating

  Familiarity information: EXCAVATOR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXCAVATOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A workman who excavates for foundations of buildings or for quarrying

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("excavator" is a kind of...):

working man; working person; workingman; workman (an employee who performs manual or industrial labor)

Derivation:

excavate (form by hollowing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A machine for excavating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

digger; excavator; power shovel; shovel

Hypernyms ("excavator" is a kind of...):

machine (any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "excavator"):

backhoe (an excavator whose shovel bucket is attached to a hinged boom and is drawn backward to move earth)

dredge (a power shovel to remove material from a channel or riverbed)

steam shovel (a power shovel that is driven by steam)

Derivation:

excavate (form by hollowing)

 Context examples 

With the help of professional excavators and coal miners, the scientists unearthed vertebrae, ribs, limbs and pelvic bones over the course of several months.

(Paleontologists discover new species of titanosaurian dinosaur in Tanzania, NSF)

The excavation process spanned several years, and included researchers suspended by ropes and large-scale mechanical excavators to recover one of the more complete specimens from this part of the sauropod dinosaur family tree.

(New dinosaur with heart-shaped tail offers clues to evolution of Africa's ecosystems, National Science Foundation)