Standard Lemma guide

excavator

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɛkskəˌveɪtə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɛkskəˌveɪtɚ/
  • rhymes with -eɪtə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 K S K AH0 V EY2 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A person who excavates.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • the excavators of an ancient Egyptian tomb

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A vehicle, often on tracks, used to dig ditches etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: digger, excavating machine

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A curette used to scrape out pathological material.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a machine for excavating

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: power shovel, digger, shovel

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: machine

Narrower terms: backhoe, dredge, steam shovel

5

noun

Meaning 5

a workman who excavates for foundations of buildings or for quarrying

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: workman, workingman, working man, working person

History

Etymology

From excavate + -or.

Across languages

Translations

154 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَفَّار (ḥaffār) — person
  • Belarusian: капа́льнік (kapálʹnik) — person
  • Belarusian: земляко́п (zjemljakóp) — person
  • Belarusian: граба́р (hrabár) — person
  • Belarusian: экскава́таршчык (ekskavátarščyk) — person
  • Bulgarian: копа́ч (kopáč) — person
  • Catalan: excavador — person
  • Czech: kopáč — person
  • Danish: graver — person
  • Dutch: graver — person
  • Estonian: kaevaja — person
  • Estonian: kaevur — person
  • Finnish: kaivaja — person
  • French: excavateur — person
  • Galician: excavador — person
  • Georgian: მთხრელი (mtxreli) — person
  • Georgian: გამთხრელი (gamtxreli) — person
  • Georgian: მეექსკავატორე (meeksḳavaṭore) — person
  • German: Gräber — person
  • German: Gräberin — person
  • Greek: εκσκαφέας (ekskaféas) — person
  • Italian: spalatore — person
  • Italian: badilante — person
  • Italian: sterratore — person
  • Italian: scavatore — person
  • Kyrgyz: экскаватор (ekskavator) — person
  • Macedonian: копач (kopač) — person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: graver — person
  • Polish: kopacz — person
  • Portuguese: escavador — person
  • Portuguese: cavador — person
  • Romanian: excavator — person
  • Romanian: săpător — person
  • Russian: копа́тель (kopátelʹ) — person
  • Russian: землеко́п (zemlekóp) — person
  • Russian: копа́льщик (kopálʹščik) — person
  • Russian: граба́рь (grabárʹ) — person
  • Russian: гра́барь (grábarʹ) — person
  • Russian: экскава́торщик (ekskavátorščik) — person
  • Serbo-Croatian: ко̀па̄ч — person
  • Serbo-Croatian: kòpāč — person
  • Slovak: kopáč — person
  • Slovene: kopač — person
  • Spanish: excavador — person
  • Swedish: grävare — person
  • Thai: เครื่องขุด (krʉ̂ʉang-kùt) — person
  • Ukrainian: копа́ч (kopáč) — person
  • Ukrainian: землеко́п (zemlekóp) — person
  • Ukrainian: граба́р (hrabár) — person
  • Ukrainian: гра́бар (hrábar) — person
  • Ukrainian: копа́льник (kopálʹnyk) — person
  • Ukrainian: екскава́торник (ekskavátornyk) — person
  • Uzbek: ekskavator — person
  • Vietnamese: người xới đất — person
  • Albanian: ekskavator — vehicle
  • Arabic: حَفَّارَة (ḥaffāra) — vehicle
  • Arabic: حَفَّارَة آلِيَّة (ḥaffāra ʔāliyya) — vehicle
  • Arabic: حَفَّارَة مِيكَانِيكِيَّة (ḥaffāra mīkānīkiyya) — vehicle
  • Armenian: էքսկավատոր (ēkʻskavator) — vehicle
  • Azerbaijani: ekskavator — vehicle
  • Belarusian: экскава́тар (ekskavátar) — vehicle
  • Bulgarian: ба́гер (báger) — vehicle
  • Bulgarian: екскава́тор (ekskavátor) — vehicle
  • Burmese: မြေတူးစက် (mretu:cak) — vehicle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 挖土機 /挖土机 (wātǔjī) — vehicle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 掘土機 /掘土机 (juétǔjī) — vehicle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 挖掘機 /挖掘机 (wājuéjī) — vehicle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 怪手 (guàishǒu) — vehicle
  • Crimean Tatar: ekskavator — vehicle
  • Czech: bagr — vehicle
  • Czech: exkavátor — vehicle
  • Danish: gravemaskine — vehicle
  • Danish: gravko — vehicle
  • Dutch: graafmachine — vehicle
  • Esperanto: dragmaŝino — vehicle
  • Esperanto: elkavatoro — vehicle
  • Esperanto: fosmaŝino — vehicle
  • Estonian: ekskavaator — vehicle
  • Estonian: kopp — vehicle
  • Estonian: kaevemasin — vehicle
  • Faroese: gravkúgv — vehicle
  • Finnish: kaivinkone — vehicle
  • French: excavatrice — vehicle
  • French: pelleteuse — vehicle
  • French: pelle hydraulique — vehicle
  • French: pelle mécanique hydraulique — vehicle
  • French: excavateur — vehicle
  • Galician: excavadora — vehicle
  • Georgian: ექსკავატორი (eksḳavaṭori) — vehicle
  • German: Bagger — vehicle
  • German: Tieflöffelbagger — vehicle
  • German: Aushubmaschine — vehicle
  • Greek: εκσκαφέας (ekskaféas) — vehicle
  • Hebrew: מַחְפֵּר (makhpér) — vehicle
  • Hindi: उत्खनक (utkhanak) — vehicle
  • Hindi: उत्खनित्र (utkhanitra) — vehicle
  • Hungarian: markológép — vehicle
  • Icelandic: grafa — vehicle
  • Ido: exkavilo — vehicle
  • Indonesian: ekskavator — vehicle
  • Ingrian: ekskavatora — vehicle
  • Irish: tochaltóir — vehicle
  • Italian: ruspa — vehicle
  • Italian: escavatore — vehicle
  • Italian: escavatrice — vehicle
  • Italian: talpa — vehicle
  • Japanese: 掘削機 (kussakuki) — vehicle
  • Japanese: ショベル (shoberu) — vehicle
  • Kazakh: экскаватор (ékskavator) — vehicle
  • Korean: 굴삭기 (gulsakgi) — vehicle
  • Korean: 굴착기 (gulchakgi) — vehicle
  • Korean: 포크레인 (pokeurein) — vehicle
  • Kyrgyz: экскаватор (ekskavator) — vehicle
  • Lao: ເຄື່ອງຂຸດ (khư̄ang khut) — vehicle
  • Latvian: ekskavators — vehicle
  • Lithuanian: ekskavatorius — vehicle
  • Macedonian: багер (bager) — vehicle
  • Malay: ekskavator — vehicle
  • Malay: jengkaut — vehicle
  • Mongolian: экскаватор (ekskavator) — vehicle
  • Mongolian: шороо ухах машин (šoroo uxax mašin) — vehicle
  • Mongolian: ᠡᠺᠰᠺᠠᠸᠠᠲ᠋ᠤᠷ (ekskawatur) — vehicle
  • Mongolian: ᠰᠢᠷᠤᠢ ᠤᠬᠤᠬᠤ ᠮᠠᠰᠢᠨ (sirui uququ masin) — vehicle
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gravemaskin — vehicle
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gravemaskin — vehicle
  • Iranian Persian: بیلِ مِکانیکی (bil-e mekâniki) — vehicle
  • Iranian Persian: بیل (bil) — vehicle
  • Polish: koparka — vehicle
  • Portuguese: escavadora — vehicle
  • Portuguese: escavadeira — vehicle
  • Romanian: excavator — vehicle
  • Russian: экскава́тор (ekskavátor) — vehicle
  • Serbo-Croatian: ба́гер — vehicle
  • Serbo-Croatian: báger — vehicle
  • Slovak: bager — vehicle
  • Slovene: kopač — vehicle
  • Spanish: excavadora — vehicle
  • Swedish: grävmaskin — vehicle
  • Swedish: grävskopa — vehicle
  • Swedish: grävare — vehicle
  • Tagalog: pamungkal — vehicle
  • Tajik: экскаватор (ekskavator) — vehicle
  • Thai: เครื่องขุด (krʉ̂ʉang-kùt) — vehicle
  • Turkish: ekskavatör — vehicle
  • Turkish: kazaratar — vehicle
  • Turkish: kazmaç — vehicle
  • Turkish: kazı makinesi — vehicle
  • Turkmen: ekskawator — vehicle
  • Ukrainian: екскава́тор (ekskavátor) — vehicle
  • Urdu: ایکْسْکاویٹَر (ekskāveṭar) — vehicle
  • Uyghur: ئېكىسكىۋاتور (ëkiskiwator) — vehicle
  • Uzbek: ekskavator — vehicle
  • Vietnamese: máy đào — vehicle
  • Vietnamese: máy xúc — vehicle
Real reading context

excavator in complete knowledge articles