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"excavate" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often dig (3 letters).
Definitions
remove the inner part or the core of
Word origin
First attested in 1599, from Latin excavātus (“hollowed out”), perfect passive participle of excavō (“to hollow out”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out”) + cavō (“to hollow out, pierce”), from cavus (“cave, hole”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Dig out”8 letters
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