excavation

noun9

1. •
   The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass.
2. •
   Especially, the trade of digging engineered holes for building foundations, roadbed preparations, and similar purposes.
3. •
   Archaeological research that unearths buildings, tombs and objects of historical value.
4. •
   (figurative) The act of discovering and exposing or developing (a quality).

   • Chua looks at the landscape of childhood rather like a mining engineer looks at a pristine landscape—ripe for the excavation of talent. — 2015
5. •
   A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.
6. •
   An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.
7. •
   A site where an archaeological exploration is being carried out.
8. •
   Something uncovered by archaeological excavation.

   • To date, [Taco's 1982 cover of Irving Berlin's 1935] "Cheek To Cheek" and similar auditory excavations have fared poorly. — 1990
9. •
   The material dug out in making a channel or cavity.

   • […] to cart away the excavations from the work, and to recart the same back again so far as required to fill the trench over the sewer […] — 1878