unearth
Americanverb (used with object)
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unearths,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unearthed,
past participle, past
-
unearthing
present participle
-
to dig or get out of the earth; dig up.
-
to uncover or bring to light by search, inquiry, etc..
The lawyer unearthed new evidence.
verb
-
to dig up out of the earth
-
to reveal or discover, esp by exhaustive searching
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unearthsimple
-
unearthssimple
-
have unearthedperfect
-
has unearthedperfect
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am unearthingprogressive
-
are unearthingprogressive
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is unearthingprogressive
-
have been unearthingperfect progressive
-
has been unearthingperfect progressive
Past
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unearthedsimple
-
had unearthedperfect
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was unearthingprogressive
-
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:
Some customers were still coming by, hoping to unearth a rare gem amid the clothes, records, dishes and other items.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
"It really does go to show that shopping sustainably can unearth some real treasure, as well as supporting a great cause," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The Permian is unique in that producers typically underwrite drilling there based on oil prices, and not the gas that they unearth in the process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
You find yourself opening up the freezer, only to unearth an unopened box of frozen pizza.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
They can unearth a piece of hot dog buried at the bottom of a neighbor’s trash can.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
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
Mr. O’Brien unearths the fact that Mr. Bird’s presence with the industrial team was so unremarkable that the local paper routinely misspelled his name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
Rory McIlroy unearths a buried ball as he tries to play himself out of trouble on the 11th hole at The Open.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2025
The book unearths the contested history of mobility.
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2025
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
The remarkable discovery, described in 2024 in the journal Scientific Reports, came from fossils unearthed in Gujarat, western India.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
Vietnam held funeral rites for more than 700 of its war dead on Wednesday, unearthed in a major push to identify those missing from decades of conflict with France and the United States.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Record hoard of Roman coins unearthed in Germany.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Ronika’s resentment toward Blair, who has avoided condemning Haywood in public, seethes monotonously until her own backstory is finally unearthed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
He unearthed several shovelfuls of dirt in this manner, be-fore it occurred to him that he was dumping his dirt within the perimeter of his hole.
From "Holes" by Louis Sachar
In this video, mudlarks show how citizen archaeologists are unearthing London’s lost history in the mud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 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 unearthing in 2018 of a charcoal inscription at Pompeii featuring a date in October has been grist to the mill of those who seek to push the eruption beyond August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
They picked through shattered china, broken goblets, and the half-moons of delicate-stemmed glassware, unearthing more and more wealth.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
