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.
Meaning & usage
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.
They dug an eight-foot ditch along the side of the road.
In the wintertime, heavy truck tires dig into the road, forming potholes.
To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up.
to dig potatoes
to dig up gold
To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously.
To investigate, to research, often followed by out or up.
to dig up evidence
to dig out the facts
To thrust; to poke.
He dug an elbow into my ribs and guffawed at his own joke.
To defend against an attack hit by the opposing team by successfully passing the ball
Where this word comes from
From Middle English diggen (“to dig”, 13th c.), an alteration of dīken, from Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, mound up earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *dīkōn, which see for cognates. This verb is denominal from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (“pool, puddle; dyke, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”). The form with g may have been influenced by Old French *diguer, a variant of dikier, itself from the West Germanic verb above. French forms with g are attested only in the 15th c., thus 200 years later than in English. On the other hand, French has according forms also for the underlying noun (cf. digue) and the phonetic development is more plausible in French than in English.
An archeological or paleontological investigation, or the site where such an investigation is taking place.
Any act of digging to find or retrieve something.
A thrust; a poke.
He guffawed and gave me a dig in the ribs after telling his latest joke.
A hard blow, especially (boxing) a straight left-hander delivered under the opponent's guard.
A defensive pass of the ball that has been attacked by the opposing team.
An innings.
A cutting, sarcastic remark.
The occupation of digging for gold.
A plodding and laborious student.
A tool for digging.
A rare or interesting vinyl record bought second-hand.
a £1 charity shop dig
Where this word comes from
From Middle English diggen (“to dig”, 13th c.), an alteration of dīken, from Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, mound up earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *dīkōn, which see for cognates. This verb is denominal from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (“pool, puddle; dyke, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”). The form with g may have been influenced by Old French *diguer, a variant of dikier, itself from the West Germanic verb above. French forms with g are attested only in the 15th c., thus 200 years later than in English. On the other hand, French has according forms also for the underlying noun (cf. digue) and the phonetic development is more plausible in French than in English.
To understand.
You dig?
To appreciate, or like.
Baby, I dig you.
Where this word comes from
From African American Vernacular English; due to lack of writing of slave speech, etymology is difficult to trace, but it has been suggested that it is from Wolof dëgg, dëgga (“to understand, to appreciate”). It has also been suggested that it is from Irish dtuig, thus being a doublet of twig. Others do not propose a distinct etymology, instead considering this a semantic shift of the existing English term (compare dig in/dig into).
Digoxin.
dig toxicity
Where this word comes from
Shortening.
A duck.
Where this word comes from
Unknown. Compare Middle English digge.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.