dig out

verb

dug out; digging out; digs out

transitive verb

1

: find, unearth

2

: to make hollow by digging

intransitive verb

: take off sense 1a

Synonyms

• ascertain
• descry
• detect
• determine
• dig up
• discover
• dredge (up)
• ferret (out)
• find
• find out
• get
• hit (on or upon)
• hunt (down or up)
• learn
• locate
• nose out
• root (out)
• rout (out)
• rummage
• run down
• scare up
• scout (up)
• track (down)
• turn up

Examples of dig out in a Sentence

she dug her old art supplies out of the basement

without saying where she was going, the young woman dug out early the next morning

Recent Examples on the Web

Dating back 52,000 years, this large female specimen was dug out of the permafrost in northeastern Siberia in 2018. —Michael Irving, New Atlas, 11 July 2024

But time heals all wounds, as was demonstrated today when the couple dug out their original reception looks in celebration of their silver wedding anniversary. —Leah Dolan, CNN, 4 July 2024

Photo two comes with an Instagram warning about graphic content, and reveals a gaping hole where the doctor had dug out the basal cell carcinoma. —Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 13 Mar. 2024

UConn, which dug out of a 9-15 hole to start this past season, had nine transfers from Division III schools and, some in the game are beginning to theorize, this is the way of the future. —Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 15 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1