unearth
Americanverb (used with object)
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to dig or get out of the earth; dig up.
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to uncover or bring to light by search, inquiry, etc..
The lawyer unearthed new evidence.
verb
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to dig up out of the earth
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to reveal or discover, esp by exhaustive searching
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unearthsimple
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unearthssimple
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have unearthedperfect
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has unearthedperfect
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am unearthingprogressive
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are unearthingprogressive
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is unearthingprogressive
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have been unearthingperfect progressive
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has been unearthingperfect progressive
Past
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unearthedsimple
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had unearthedperfect
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was unearthingprogressive
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were unearthingprogressive
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had been unearthingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unearth
First recorded in 1400–50, unearth is from the late Middle English word unerthen. See un- 2, earth
Explanation
To unearth something is to dig it up. You could unearth a coffin, or even a tee shirt buried in the bottom of a drawer. To put something in the earth is to bury it, to unearth it is to take it back out. When digging in the yard you’ll probably unearth creepy-crawlies and, with luck, a lost treasure will surface. To bring anything hidden “into the light” is to unearth it. You can unearth the secret affairs of your lover, you can unearth the lies of a corrupt government, and you may even unearth a child’s secret candy stash from under the mattress.
Vocabulary lists containing unearth
Holes
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"The End and the Beginning," Vocabulary from the poem
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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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:
After taking a job at the Conference Board, a business research organization, he rummaged through libraries to unearth measures of railcar freight loading and trends in short staple cotton prices since the Civil War.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
You find yourself opening up the freezer, only to unearth an unopened box of frozen pizza.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
Armed with just "an Drew", Filip's research led him to boxing and military records to unearth the truth.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Often, solving one issue would unearth additional problems, leading to new customer requests or additional workflows.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 4, 2026
I unearth my egg and see that it’s cooked perfectly to a soft boil.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Digging deeper, however, unearths a defensive tenor to Monday’s rally, which was paced by megacap tech, healthcare, and industrial stocks that was paired with a big bid for U.S.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
A quick list of new arrivals among senior staff at the Old Trafford club unearths 19 names.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2025
But by bringing his archaeological focus to bear on the question, Mr. Blair unearths some puzzling continuities and raises the stakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
Jared D. Margulies’ ‘The Cactus Hunters,’ unearths the global trade in stolen succulents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2023
From somewhere in the depths of the car our mother unearths a primus stove, which she sets up on the kitchen floor, since there is no table.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Two things happened on June 14: According to police audio unearthed this week, paramedics gave CPR to an “unconscious” person who’d experienced “cardiac arrest” at an address that matches McConnell’s D.C. home.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
Most primates today live in the tropics, and most primate fossils have been unearthed there too.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
Although he grew Reform's share of the vote overall, this time around his campaign was dogged by controversy over past social media comments about women unearthed by journalists and campaign groups.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
“There was no detail as to what these breaches were, or when they occurred, and it leaves investors wondering how they weren’t unearthed during the hiring process,” Brooks says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
He grinned as if he had unearthed a store of treasures, banging a pipe here, examining a wire there.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
In his senior year of high school, he found bugs in websites belonging to the Dutch government and reported them via a “bug bounty” program that offered hackers prizes for unearthing security flaws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
With a keen eye for unearthing talent, Mick guided Tyson Fury and Carl Froch from their debuts to their first world titles.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
For Patterson, getting the best out of his defenders never proved to be a problem at TCU, where he was known for unearthing underrated prospects on the defensive end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
The challenge with long-held silver may be unearthing the “cost basis,” or the amount originally paid, in order to determine the profit that is subject to tax, Weltman said.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
It was a long e-mail, digging, questioning, unearthing.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
