cavare

Cavare is an Italian verb of the first conjugation (ends in -are) whose core meaning is to dig or hollow out. It is used for extracting material from the ground, creating cavities or openings, and in mining or geological contexts to denote removing ore or other substances. The sense of removing or extracting can also apply in everyday contexts when something is taken out by digging, such as a hole or a cavity. In dentistry, cavare un dente means to extract a tooth. In many situations, especially in common speech, cavare is less frequent than scavare (to dig) and cavare tends to appear in technical, literary, or regional/journalistic usage.

Etymology and related forms: cavare derives from Latin cavare, related to cavus meaning hollow. The verb follows regular -are conjugation patterns. Present tense forms are io cave, tu cave, lui/lei cava, noi caviamo, voi cavate, loro cavano. The past participle is cavato, used with avere in compound tenses (ho cavato, hai cavato, ha cavato, etc.). The gerund is cavando, and the imperfect cavavo, cavavi, cavava, etc.

Usage notes: In standard Italian, scavare is the more common synonym for digging, especially for digging in soil or earth. Cavare often appears in technical, regional, or historical registers, and in specific expressions such as cavare un dente. The noun cava exists as well, meaning “quarry,” which can cause confusion with the verb form in some sentences.

Examples: Ho cavato una buca nel cortile. Il minatore cavava only la cava locale per estrarre metalli. Cavare un dente è un’operazione dentistica da eseguire con anestesia.