dig
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (8)digging, dug, digs, digged
- turn up, loosen, or remove earth“Dig we must”“turn over the soil for aeration”Synonyms: delvecut intoturn overMore general remove, takeMore specific burrow, furrow, shovel, spade, trowel, rout
- create by digging“dig a hole”“dig out a channel”Synonyms: dig outMore general hollow, hollow outMore specific trench, lift, dibbleInvolves remove, take
- work hard“She was digging away at her math homework”“Lexicographers drudge all day long”Synonyms: laborlabourtoilfagtravailgrinddrudgemoilMore general work, do work
- remove, harvest, or recover by digging“dig salt”“dig coal”Synonyms: dig updig outMore general excavate, unearth
- thrust down or into“dig the oars into the water”“dig your foot into the floor”More general thrust
- remove the inner part or the core of“the mining company wants to excavate the hillside”Synonyms: excavatehollowMore general remove, takeMore specific drive, trench
- poke or thrust abruptly“he jabbed his finger into her ribs”Synonyms: jabprodstabpoke
- get the meaning of something“Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?”Synonyms: grokget the picturecomprehendsavvygraspcompassapprehend
Noun (5)digs
- the site of an archeological exploration“they set up camp next to the dig”Synonyms: excavationarcheological siteType of site, land siteExamples Byblos
- an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect“his parting shot was ‘drop dead’”“she threw shafts of sarcasm”“she takes a dig at me every chance she gets”Synonyms: shotshaftslambarbjibegibeType of remark, commentKinds cheap shot
- a small gouge (as in the cover of a book)“the book was in good condition except for a dig in the back cover”Type of dent, ding
- the act of digging“there's an interesting excavation going on near Princeton”Synonyms: excavationdiggingType of creating by removal
- the act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow“she gave me a sharp dig in the ribs”Synonyms: jabType of touch, touching
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Verb to move hard-packed earth out of the way
- Spanish
- cavar
- French
- creuser
- German
- graben
- Italian
- scavare
- Portuguese
- escavar
- Turkish
- kazmak
- Russian
- копа́ть kopátʹ
- Arabic
- حَفَرَ ḥafara
- Chinese
- 挖 wā
- Japanese
- 掘る horu
29 more languages
- Dutch
- graven
- Polish
- kopać
- Swedish
- gräva
- Greek
- σκάβω skávo
- Korean
- 파다 pada
- Indonesian
- gali
- Vietnamese
- đào
- Hungarian
- ás
- Portuguese (PT)
- escavar
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 挖 wā
- Albanian
- rrëmoj
- Catalan
- cavar
- Czech
- kopat
- Danish
- grave
- Esperanto
- fosi
- Estonian
- kaevama
- Finnish
- kaivaa
- Hebrew
- חָפַר khafár
- Icelandic
- grafa
- Latvian
- rakt
- Lithuanian
- kasti
- Norwegian
- grave
- Romanian
- săpa
- Scottish Gaelic
- cladhaich
- Serbo-Croatian
- kopati
- Slovak
- kopať
- Slovenian
- kopati
- Welsh
- cloddio
- Yiddish
- גראָבן grobn
Noun archeological investigation
- Dutch
- opgraving
- Swedish
- utgrävning
- Hungarian
- ásatás
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. diggen, perh. the same word as diken, dichen (see Dike, Ditch); cf. Dan. dige to dig, dige a ditch; or (?) akin to E. 1st dag. √67.
1. To turn up, or delve in, (earth) with a spade or a hoe; to open, loosen, or break up (the soil) with a spade, or other sharp instrument; to pierce, open, or loosen, as if with a spade.
Be first to dig the ground.— John Dryden
2. To get by digging; as, to dig potatoes, or gold.
3. To hollow out, as a well; to form, as a ditch, by removing earth; to excavate; as, to dig a ditch or a well.
4. To thrust; to poke. colloquial
You should have seen children... dig and push their mothers under the sides, saying thus to them: Look, mother, how great a lubber doth yet wear pearls.— Raphe Robynson
5. To like; enjoy; admire. The whole class digs Pearl Jam. colloquial
To dig down, to undermine and cause to fall by digging; as, to dig down a wall. — To dig from, To dig out of, To dig out, To dig up, to get out or obtain by digging; as, to dig coal from or out of a mine; to dig out fossils; to dig up a tree. The preposition is often omitted; as, the men are digging coal, digging iron ore, digging potatoes. — To dig in, (a) to cover by digging; as, to dig in manure. (b) To entrench oneself so as to give stronger resistance; — used of warfare or negotiating situations. — to dig in one's heels To offer stubborn resistance.
1. To work with a spade or other like implement; to do servile work; to delve.
Dig for it more than for hid treasures.— Job iii. 21.
I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed.— Luke xvi. 3.
2. Mining To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
3. To work hard or drudge; specif. (US): To study ploddingly and laboriously. colloquial
Peter dug at his books all the harder.— Paul L. Ford.
4. Machinery Of a tool: To cut deeply into the work because ill set, held at a wrong angle, or the like, as when a lathe tool is set too low and so sprung into the work.
To dig out, to depart; to leave, esp. hastily; decamp. Slang, U. S.
1. To understand; as, do you dig me?. slang
2. To notice; to look at; as, dig that crazy hat!. slang
3. To appreciate and enjoy; as, he digs classical music as well as rock. slang
1. A thrust; a punch; a poke; as, a dig in the side or the ribs. See Dig, transitive verb, 4. colloquial
2. A plodding and laborious student. Cant, U.S.
3. A tool for digging. Dial. Eng.
4. An act of digging.
5. An amount to be dug.
6. Mining same as Gouge.
7. a critical and sometimes sarcastic or insulting remark, but often good-humored; as, celebrities at a roast must suffer through countless digs.
8. An archeological excavation site.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC, 1913 supplement, GCIDE editors