Excavators

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Heavy construction machines equipped with a bucket, arm, and rotating cab used for digging and moving soil or materials ; individuals who dig, hollow out, or remove earth from a site
2. Vehicles designed to dig trenches, foundations, or other holes by moving earth ; workers who carry out digging tasks typically using tools or machinery
3. Mechanical equipment that excavates by scooping and lifting soil or debris ; persons engaged in the act of digging or unearthing materials

Etymology: Excavators is simply the plural of excavator, a machine built to dig. The machine's name comes from the verb "excavate", which reached English from Latin "excavare", meaning to hollow out, with the "-or" ending attached to name the thing that performs the action. That same ending is found in many English nouns for people and devices that do a job, such as "operator" or "editor", which share a Latin-derived pattern. The root of the verb is a compound of "ex-", meaning out, and "cavus", meaning hollow, so to excavate is literally to make something hollow by taking material out of it. An excavator therefore carries the original sense of hollowing: its bucket scoops earth out of the ground and leaves a cavity behind.

Synonyms: diggers, machines