excavator

IPA/ˈekskəveɪtə(r)/
KK[ˈɛkskəvˌetɚ]IPA/ˈekskəveɪtər/

excavator — noun

  • excavatorsingular
  • excavatorsplural

1. A large machine with a long arm and bucket that digs earth and lifts it away.

1.nounB2
Definition

A large machine with a long arm and bucket that digs earth and lifts it away.

Example

The excavator dug a deep pit beside the new apartment block.

dig a pit with an excavator

Bilal moved the excavator slowly around the broken water main.

operate an excavator around a work area

Common collocations
  • operate an excavator
  • rent an excavator
  • tracked excavator
  • excavator bucket
  • mini excavator
Synonyms
  • digger

    an informal everyday word for a machine that digs earth

  • backhoe

    a more specific digging vehicle, usually smaller and fitted with a rear digging arm

  • earthmover

    a broad term for heavy machines that move soil, not just excavators

Grammar Patterns

operate an excavator

excavator + bucket / arm / operator

Usage Note

Usually refers to the whole digging vehicle on building sites and roadworks. In informal speech, some speakers say digger, while backhoe usually names a smaller machine with a rear digging arm.

Common Mistakes

They used an excavator to push the whole hill flat.
They used a bulldozer to push the whole hill flat.
An excavator is mainly for digging and lifting soil, not for shoving earth forward with a blade.
The warehouse moved pallets with an excavator.
The warehouse moved pallets with a forklift.
An excavator is an outdoor digging machine, not a vehicle for lifting goods inside a building.

2. Someone whose job or task is to remove soil so that buried things can be found.

2.nounC1
Definition

Someone whose job or task is to remove soil so that buried things can be found.

Example

Archaeologists hired two local excavators to uncover the stone floor.

team of excavators on a dig

Olivia worked as an excavator on the rescue dig after the landslide.

work as an excavator

Common collocations
  • work as an excavator
  • team of excavators
  • local excavator
  • skilled excavator
Synonyms
  • digger

    a more informal word for a person who digs

  • archaeologist

    more specific because it refers to a trained researcher, not every excavator

  • excavation worker

    a practical job title that focuses on site work rather than discovery

Grammar Patterns

work as an excavator

team of excavators

Usage Note

Often appears in archaeology or rescue-dig contexts when the focus is the person doing the digging. In everyday English, people more often use a more specific job word such as archaeologist, worker, or operator.

Common Mistakes

The museum bought a new excavator for the summer dig.
The museum hired a new excavator for the summer dig.
In this sense, excavator means a person, so the verb should fit a worker, not a machine.
The excavator pressed the controls in the cab all day.
The excavator operator pressed the controls in the cab all day.
This sense means someone digging in the ground, not specifically the person driving the machine.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Excavator is the standard word for a large machine that digs earth out with a bucket on a long arm. Backhoe is more specific: it often suggests a smaller machine with a rear digging arm, especially on smaller building jobs. Bulldozer is different because it mainly pushes soil forward with a wide blade instead of scooping it out. Digger is an informal everyday word and can refer either to an excavator or, in some contexts, to a person doing the digging. You might say, 'The excavator removed the broken pavement,' but 'The bulldozer pushed the rubble aside,' or 'We rented a backhoe for the narrow trench behind the house.'

excavator ↗backhoe ↗bulldozerdigger ↗

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Excavator comes from excavate, which goes back to a Latin verb meaning to hollow out or dig out. The ending -or names the person or thing that performs an action. In modern English, the word is used mainly for the machine that digs earth, and less often for the person carrying out the digging.