dig
verb (used without object)
to break up, turn over, or remove earth, sand, etc., as with a shovel, spade, bulldozer, or claw; make an excavation.
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digging.
dig
1 American
[dig]
/ dɪg /
verb (used without object)
dug,
digged,
digging
-
to break up, turn over, or remove earth, sand, etc., as with a shovel, spade, bulldozer, or claw; make an excavation.
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to make one's way or work by or as by removing or turning over material.
to dig through the files.
verb (used with object)
dug,
digged,
digging
-
to break up, turn over, or loosen (earth, sand, etc.), as with a shovel, spade, or bulldozer (often followed byup ).
-
to form or excavate (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by removing material.
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to unearth, obtain, or remove by digging (often followed by up orout ).
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to find or discover by effort or search.
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to poke, thrust, or force (usually followed by in orinto ).
He dug his heel into the ground.
noun
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digs
plural
verb phrase
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dig up
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to discover in the course of digging.
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to locate; find.
to dig up information.
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-
dig into to attack, work, or apply oneself voraciously, vigorously, or energetically: to dig into a meal.
to dig into one's work;
to dig into a meal.
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dig in
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to dig trenches, as in order to defend a position in battle.
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to maintain one's opinion or position.
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to start eating.
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dig out
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to remove earth or debris from by digging.
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to hollow out by digging.
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to find by searching.
to dig out facts for a term paper.
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dig
2
American
[dig]
/ dɪg /
verb (used with object)
Slang.
dug,
digging
-
to understand.
Can you dig what I'm saying?
-
to take notice of.
Dig those shoes he's wearing.
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to like, love, or enjoy.
She digs that kind of music. We really dig each other.
dig.
3
American
abbreviation
dig
1
British
/ dɪɡ /
verb
-
to cut into, break up, and turn over or remove (earth, soil, etc), esp with a spade
-
to form or excavate (a hole, tunnel, passage, etc) by digging, usually with an implement or (of animals) with feet, claws, etc
to dig a tunnel
-
(often foll by through) to make or force (one's way), esp by removing obstructions
he dug his way through the crowd
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(tr; often foll by out or up) to obtain by digging
to dig potatoes
to dig up treasure
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(tr; often foll by out or up) to find or discover by effort or searching
to dig out unexpected facts
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(tr; foll by in or into) to thrust or jab (a sharp instrument, weapon, etc); poke
he dug his spurs into the horse's side
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(tr; foll by in or into) to mix (compost, etc) with soil by digging
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informal (tr) to like, understand, or appreciate
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slang (intr) to work hard, esp for an examination
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informal (intr) to have lodgings
I dig in South London
noun
-
the act of digging
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a thrust or poke, esp in the ribs
-
a cutting or sarcastic remark
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informal an archaeological excavation
Dig
2
British
/ dɪɡ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dig1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English diggen, deggen; perhaps from Middle French diguer “to dig,” from the same Germanic source as ditch ( def. )
Origin of dig2
First recorded in 1935–40; origin uncertain; perhaps the same as dig 1 ( def. )
Explanation
When you dig, you scoop or shovel up dirt, sand, or some other material. Your dog might whine to go outside so she can dig a hole in your dad's garden. You can dig with your hands, a shovel, or even a tractor or backhoe. City crews dig up roads to repair water pipes, and gardeners dig small for planting bulbs. You can even say you dig your brother in the side when you jab him there. If someone says, "I dig you," they mean, "I understand," and if they say, "I dig your outfit," they like it. Both slang usages come from 1930s African American English.
Vocabulary lists containing dig
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Reichl had the courage to dig deeper and show people a different side of food writing in a time when most people only read the food section for the ads.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Villarreal: I want to dig into Season 2.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
It is a dream moment for planetary scientists because it lets them test their models of how impacts dig out craters, throw debris across the surface, and send tremors through the Moon's interior.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
He added that teams often had to "dig through concrete and twisted steel with their bare hands".
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
That meant a frustrating struggle to dig out the arrowheads, which they couldn’t afford to lose.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
"There were some other amazing finds on the dig. It was a field of dreams."
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2023
“That’s fine. I can dig. Wouldn’t trust anyone under 30 who didn’t poke at his or her or their elders. But it doesn’t mean that I or we have got to oblige.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2020
“When all else fails, we were instructed to dig. The clams are always there. There’s food waiting there.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 15, 2019
When Hope asks him if he’s off by himself looking for gold, he answers: “No. I just like to dig. I used to live in a hole.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2016
“He says if we want to eat, we must dig. Our ration depends on our progress.”
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
“You can really see the impact she had on them,” said Kellie Jones, a scholar and independent curator who organized “Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980” at the Hammer Museum in 2011.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Cava, despite the broader company’s stock decline, was still packed with salad-hungry customers; so were Naya and Dig Inn.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Dig deeper: Palantir pioneered the hottest job in tech.
From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026
In 1985, Nepal’s Dig Tsho lake, in the Everest region, burst after part of a hanging glacier fell into it, destroying houses and infrastructure below.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Dig, nag, dig, nag, goes Ma, and then BOOM!
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
She digs into why it’s so appealing—and why it’s also become the most abused trope on BookTok.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Small digs have since uncovered "extremely rare" evidence of early humans and animals - including the bones of a hippopotamus which roamed Wales 120,000 years ago.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
I loved the details in this feature about the 60-year-old Mexico City stadium where play opened on Thursday and our guide to the teams’ far-flung digs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Offering a layup to politics writers, Drake briefly wonders if the ire he’s earned through decades of digs and questionable interpolations of other artists’ songs is actually antisemitism.
From Salon ● May 21, 2026
A knot digs into the back of my throat.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
“It seemed like it digged the piece,” Aitken said, as wide-eyed and sincere as he is when talking about all of his work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2024
Spade never digged a pit as murky, foul, treacherous as that which gapes for the spirit of a golfer who is off his form.
From Time Magazine Archive
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth and hid his lord's money.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then, as a double precaution against double voting, each digged his fingers in a pot of indelible ink and presented his forearm to let one square inch of hair be shaved off.
From Time Magazine Archive
Men were laboring with Mattocks & Axes & Picks & rustic Grubbing Hoes — & together they digged out & built up the Breastworks & Redoubts at the Eminence of the Hill.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
No one knows, but all the flailing, hammering, digging and burrowing are for naught.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"We've been here since day one, digging holes all the way down to the ground floor," the 50-year-old carpenter told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Twenty-four years ago, it was very easy to turn away from something you had to go digging for in the first place.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Many are digging through rubble at Kashima's Aeon shopping centre, one of the worst-hit buildings where a portion of the second floor collapsed.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Molly was the one who had gone through all the trouble of digging it out from one of the storage rooms and mending the moth holes.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
She dug into troves of paintings and drawings, some owned by family members, and chose more than 80, many of which have never been displayed in public, that make the point.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Emily Bary dug into the company’s results and looked ahead at what investors can expect for Apple’s profit margins in the coming quarters.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
But I dug how Cretton gooses our spidey senses with dramatic sound effects.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
As we dug through the shelves, one of the building’s residents emerged from the front door with the stride of a woman on a mission.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of silver paper.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
