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Synonyms

dug

1 American  
[duhg] / dʌg /

verb

  1. a simple past tense and past participle of dig and dig.

dug 2 American  
[duhg] / dʌg /

noun

  1. the mamma or the nipple of a female mammal.

dug 1 British  
/ dʌɡ /

noun

  1. the nipple, teat, udder, or breast of a female mammal

  2. a human breast, esp when old and withered

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
dug 2 British  
/ dʌɡ /

verb

  1. the past tense and past participle of dig

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
dug 3 British  
/ dʌɡ /

noun

  1. a Scot word for dog

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dug

1520–30; origin obscure; perhaps < a Germanic base akin to Danish dægge, Norwegian degge, Swedish dägga to suckle

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.

When I told my editor what I was working on, he dug up an L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

In the decades since then, it has become clear that Montezemolo’s innovation dug a moat around the company that no competitor has been able to cross.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

MarketWatch retirement reporter Jessica Hall has a helpful retirement-checkup checklist that spells out these additional contributions, and Fix My Portfolio columnist Beth Pinsker dug into the IRS rules around catch-ups for high earners.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

Yet once again Paul dug deep and clawed his way back to deuce.

From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026

Crandell, and Mullineaux with him, dug through layers of rock and soil, seeing how ash from previous eruptions changed the ground.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

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.