dig

verb

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\ ˈdig

dug\ ˈdəg

\; digging

Definition of dig

(Entry 1 of 3)

transitive verb

1a : 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

2a : 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

noun

Definition of dig (Entry 2 of 3)

1a : 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

abbreviation

Definition of dig (Entry 3 of 3)

digest

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About dig

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Synonyms for dig

Synonyms: Verb

excavate,
shovel

Synonyms: Noun

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 When the soil 8-inches deep reaches about 64 degrees, the young nymphs begin to dig their way to the surface and then climb up the trunk of a tree, shrub, fence post or even the leg of a very slow-moving gardener. — Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 14 May 2021 Periodical cicadas hatch, suck sap from grasses for nourishment, then dig their way underground to subsist on food from plant roots. — Meg Muckenhoupt, USA TODAY, 3 May 2021 Voters have tasked Nirenberg with continuing to dig the city out of the pandemic — by ramping up vaccination efforts and putting San Antonians back to work. — Joshua Fechter, San Antonio Express-News, 2 May 2021 Alphabet is now spending more on big-ticket projects, like building computer complexes, than Exxon Mobil spends to dig oil and gas out of the ground. — New York Times, 29 Apr. 2021 The total wasn’t enough to dig the Patels out of their financial hole. — Esther Fung, WSJ, 20 Apr. 2021 Trying to keep everyone healthy and safe, spirits high, and the world afloat during a global pandemic has been a little bit like trying to dig a 200,000-ton ship out of a sandbank and push it through a very thin passage. — Lydia Wang, refinery29.com, 29 Mar. 2021 Lawmakers spent $5 trillion to dig the nation out of the economic hole created by the virus, and almost as a political aftershock, enacted an expansion of the social safety net larger than any seen since the creation of Medicare nearly 60 years ago. — David E. Sanger, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Mar. 2021 Trice grabbed a shovel late and tried to dig his team out of that hole. — Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 27 Feb. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Exercising the caution of an archaeologist on a dig, Biondo and his team used small pry bars and light hammers to uncover design details long concealed. — Arielle Dollinger, House Beautiful, 3 June 2021 Fourteen scholars, including researchers from Yale University and Norwegian institutions, traveled to the island for the dig, which began on April 21 and is scheduled to continue through the end of June. — Nora Mcgreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 June 2021 But even still, some saw Blake's comment as a subtle dig at the show. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, 13 May 2021 Some interpreted her post as a dig at Musk, whom Forbes named the world's richest person earlier this year with a net worth of $199.9 billion as of February. — Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, 2 May 2021 Some edgers may allow for a deeper dig, known as trenching, which is useful for homeowners who need to bury cables or simply want a more pronounced boundary in certain areas, such as along a flowerbed. — Anthony Marcusa, chicagotribune.com, 4 Apr. 2021 After a successful first dig and a day in Yellowstone, the two arrived in Arkansas on May 7, hoping to find a needle in a haystack. — Lauren M. Johnson, CNN, 30 May 2021 On April 5, 2020, PenPencilDraw posted its first graphic on Twitter, taking a dig at the short notice that was given before the lockdown. — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 25 May 2021 Hardly an episode goes by without a dig at overweight people, a running joke that forced Cox to keep crawling into a fat suit for flashback scenes. — Neal Justin, Star Tribune, 24 May 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dig.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.