dig

1 of 3

verb

dug ˈdəg How to pronounce dig (audio) ; digging

transitive verb

1
a
: to break up, turn, or loosen (earth) with an implement
digging dirt with a shovel
machines digging up the road
b
: to prepare the soil of
dig a garden
2
a
: to bring to the surface by digging : unearth
dig potatoes
b
: to bring to light or out of hiding
dig up facts
3
: to hollow out or form by removing earth : excavate
dig a hole
dig a tunnel
4
: to drive down so as to penetrate : thrust
dug her toes into the sand
The hawk dug its claws into its prey.
5
: poke, prod
dug me in the ribs with his elbow
6
slang
a
: to pay attention to : notice
dig that fancy hat
b
: understand, appreciate
couldn't dig the medical jargon
c
: like, admire
High school students dig short poetry.David Burmester

intransitive verb

1
: to turn up, loosen, or remove earth
digging in the garden
dig for buried treasure
2
: to work hard or laboriously
3
: to advance by or as if by removing or pushing aside material
digging into the history of the company

dig

2 of 3

noun

1
a
: thrust, poke
a dig in the ribs
b
: a cutting remark
a subtle dig at their lack of preparedness
2
digs plural
a
: accommodations (see accommodation sense 1a) for living or working
buying furniture for his new digs
b
chiefly British : lodging sense 2b
3
: an archaeological excavation site
also : the excavation itself
participated in a dig

dig

3 of 3

abbreviation

digest

Examples of dig in a Sentence

Verb Some animal has been digging in the garden. They dug into the sand with their hands. He dug down about 10 feet before he hit water. Dig a hole three feet deep. The first step in building a house is to dig the foundation. The prisoners escaped by digging a tunnel under the fence. digging clams on the beach These detectives won't stop digging until they find out what happened. Noun She gave me a dig in the ribs to get my attention. She participated in a dig last summer.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Going to the office has been no small feat for Jon Slaughter’s marketing team at Sugar Bowl, requiring the employees to dig down several feet and then tunnel through to the front door after a powerful blizzard dumped more than 10 feet (3 meters) of snow on the Northern California ski resort. Julie Watson, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 Southeast Asia fans dig deep to see Swift The Eras Tour is a multi-continent extravaganza that surged to become the highest-grossing tour of all time – and Swift is making Singapore a lot of money. Kathleen Magramo, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024 It’s also constructed from a super soft and stretchy cotton alternative that fits snugly around the body without digging or restricting. Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 4 Mar. 2024 The oil giant is digging its heels into a fight with activist investors who attempted to speed up the oil giant’s climate change commitments, and some of the U.S.’s biggest business lobbying groups are jumping into Exxon’s corner. Susan Howson, Quartz, 3 Mar. 2024 Ceramic sculptor Louisa Neill offers a pile of clay next to sequential photographs of digging a hole. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024 The Arizona hairy scorpion, which can be found in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of Mexico and the southwestern United States, dig elaborate burrows (up to 8 feet deep), coming out at night to hunt insects, spiders and small vertebrates. Scott Travers, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Doomed by errant shooting and four early turnovers by Bam Adebayo, the Heat dug itself an early 22-7 hole, trailed 28-15 after one and 56-46 at the half. Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2024 People were digging graves in parks, in anticipation of mass casualties. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 26 Feb. 2024
Noun
The song, part of his upcoming sophomore album, Tennessee Truth, has some fans musing if the new track is a dig at Tyler Hubbard, the Georgia half of former country music duo Florida George Line. Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2024 Similarly, it’s become difficult for people in Spears’ inner circle to hear his digs against her, Us Weekly reported. Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024 Workers at the Encore dig site told Nevada’s OSHA that burns became almost routine and caused permanent scars. Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2024 At the Encore dig site, such burns became almost routine, workers there told Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik, Quartz, 26 Feb. 2024 This was an intentional dig at his late rival Peres, who coined that phrase after signing the Oslo accords. Aluf Benn, Foreign Affairs, 7 Feb. 2024 See more reactions to Swift’s possible dig at Alwyn’s group chat name below. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 5 Feb. 2024 That was a dig at Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google, which train their AI models on the public web data crawled by their search engines, Fortune reports. Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 2 Feb. 2024 The dig is meticulous, large rectangular areas of earth removed by hand. The Arizona Republic, 23 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dig.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English diggen

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1797, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of dig was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near dig

Cite this Entry

“Dig.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dig. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dig

1 of 2 verb
dug ˈdəg How to pronounce dig (audio) ; digging
1
a
: to turn up the soil (as with a spade or hoe)
b
: to hollow out or form by removing earth
dig a hole
2
: to uncover or search by or as if by turning up earth
dig potatoes
dig for gold
dig through books for help
3
: find out
dig up the facts
4
: prod entry 1 sense 1, poke
dug me in the ribs
5
a
: to pay attention to : notice
dig that hat
b
: understand sense 1a
you dig me?
c
: like entry 1 sense 1
I dig music
digger noun

dig

2 of 2 noun
1
2
: a harsh remark : gibe
3
: a place where scientists (as archaeologists or paleontologists) try to recover buried objects by digging
also : the process of digging for such objects

More from Merriam-Webster on dig

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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