dig
To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way.
Example
“They dug an eight-foot ditch along the side of the road.”
Other meanings
To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up.
“to dig potatoes”
To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
Synonyms
- cut into
- turn over
Example sentences
Word history
From Old English "dīcian" (to dig a ditch, mound up earth).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “dig” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.