Synonyms of digging

digging

verb

present participle of dig

1

as in excavating

to hollow out or form (something) by removing earth

a backhoe dug a hole in the backyard to make a swimming pool

Synonyms & Similar Words

• excavating
• shoveling
• dredging
• clawing
• mining
• grubbing
• burrowing
• delving
• scooping
• quarrying
• spading
• digging in

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• filling (in)
• smoothing (out or over)

2

as in enjoying

to take pleasure in

I really dig bluegrass music

Synonyms & Similar Words

• enjoying
• savoring
• loving
• liking
• relishing
• fancying
• taking to
• getting off (on)
• admiring
• grooving (on)
• rejoicing (in)
• going for
• appreciating
• adoring
• reveling (in)
• delighting (in)
• getting a kick out of
• revering
• venerating
• valuing
• having a soft spot for
• being partial to
• treasuring
• worshipping
• devouring
• drinking (in)
• eating (up)
• cherishing
• preferring
• feasting (on)
• prizing
• idolizing
• doting (on)
• indulging (in)
• favoring
• luxuriating (in)
• wallowing (in)
• cottoning (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hating
• disliking
• detesting
• loathing
• abhorring
• condemning
• despising
• abominating
• scorning

3

as in knowing

to have a clear idea of

can you dig what I'm saying?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• knowing
• deciphering
• understanding
• grasping
• seeing
• recognizing
• comprehending
• appreciating
• getting
• realizing
• sensing
• making
• discerning
• seizing
• perceiving
• decoding
• conceiving
• assimilating
• intuiting
• apprehending
• registering
• catching
• twigging
• tumbling (to)
• beholding
• grokking
• making out
• savvying
• catching on (to)
• cognizing
• compassing
• digesting
• picking up on
• fathoming
• absorbing
• cottoning (to or on to)
• penetrating
• taking in
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• missing
• misunderstanding
• misreading
• misinterpreting
• mistaking
• misconstruing
• misconceiving
• misperceiving
• misapprehending

4

as in poking

to urge or push forward with or as if with a pointed object

every time I slowed down, he'd dig me in the ribs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poking
• stabbing
• prodding
• punching
• spurring
• goading
• knocking
• jabbing
• nudging
• drilling
• jogging
• sticking
• chucking
• perforating
• pricking
• propelling
• driving
• puncturing
• piercing
• boring
• haling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of digging

The pair were soon digging their wedding clothes out of the rubble. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

Instead, rescue turned into recovery, digging through debris to find bodies, or in some cases body parts. — Sabrina Franza, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026

Sweat is running down the backs of my legs, and beside me, a small child is digging a hole in the sand—something pointless and therefore extremely important, in the way things done by children often are. — Emma Watson, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026

The confession came as Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones reacted to a video of a mom digging through a ball pit after her daughter accidentally dropped her phone inside. — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2026

Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin broke out of Alcatraz by digging holes in the prison walls using spoons from the cafeteria. — Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026

Once a site manager sets the initial plan, the software takes over the digging work. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026

With little in the way of young players or draft capital aside from Wagler, scoring a big star in free agency is probably their best hope of digging themselves out of this mess in the next decade or so. — John Hollinger, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026

The company had sent heavy machinery to the site, an undeveloped valley in northeast Independence, a month earlier to start tilling the earth and digging runoff ponds. — Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026