excavator

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large powered machine with a boom and bucket, used for digging and moving earth

   The excavator cleared soil from the building site.

2. 2
   noun

   a person who uncovers material by digging, especially at an archaeological site

   Each excavator carefully labeled the pottery fragments.

From Late Latin excavator, 'one who hollows out,' based on excavare, 'to hollow out,' and later reinforced in English by excavate plus the agent suffix -or. The machine sense arose after mechanical digging equipment became common.

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