Definition

1. Verb:
   • To excavate: To dig into the ground systematically to uncover buried archaeological remains, artifacts, or fossils.
   • To exhume: To dig up something that was buried, especially a corpse from a grave.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Các nhà khảo cổ đang khai quật một ngôi đền cổ. (Archaeologists are excavating an ancient temple.)
  • Nhà chức trách đã ra lệnh khai quật thi thể để điều tra. (The authorities ordered the body to be exhumed for investigation.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is used primarily in formal, scientific, or official contexts related to archaeology, paleontology, and legal procedures.
• It implies a deliberate, careful, and often research-oriented process of uncovering what is hidden underground.

Variants and Related Words

• Khai quật khảo cổ (v): to conduct an archaeological excavation.
  • Dự án khai quật khảo cổ đã phát hiện nhiều cổ vật. (The archaeological excavation project discovered many artifacts.)

Synonyms

• Excavate: To dig out and remove earth carefully to uncover buried objects.
• Exhume: To dig out something buried, especially a corpse, from the ground.
• Unearth: To find something in the ground by digging.

Related Idioms

• : To excavate/unearth the past. This is a metaphorical use meaning to investigate or bring to light forgotten or hidden historical facts or memories.
  • Cuốn sách này như một nỗ lực khai quật quá khứ đau thương của dân tộc. (This book is like an effort to excavate the painful past of the nation.)