dig up

1. Search out, find, obtain, as in I'm sure I can dig up a few more supporters . [Mid-1800s]

2. . Find derogatory information about someone or something. For example, The editor assigned him to dig up all the dirt on the candidates . The slangy use of the noun dirt for “embarrassing or scandalous information” dates from about 1840, but this metaphoric expression is a century newer.

Example Sentences

David Moss, 36, from Cheshire, was left in disbelief and said he had "goosebumps" after digging up two clay pots in north Wales.

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Australia is very good at digging up its critical minerals, but like most other mining nations has struggled to process them onshore.

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The Sunday Telegraph also claimed that Andrew "sought to dig up dirt" on Ms Giuffre.

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A man has been told to stop illegally digging up part of a river by the Environment Agency after complaints by neighbours who had pleaded with him to stop.

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Some Sonoma grape growers are taking this year’s tumble in sales as an opportunity to dig up older vines and start the multiyear process of replanting.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• catch 
• come upon 
• design 
• detect 
• determine 
• devise 
• disclose 
• explore 
• hear 
• identify 
• invent 
• learn 
• locate 
• notice 
• observe 
• realize 
• recognize 
• reveal 
• see 
• spot