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dig - 10 dictionary results

dig

1  [dig] verb, dug or (Archaic) digged, dig⋅ging, noun
Use dig in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to break up, turn over, or remove earth, sand, etc., as with a shovel, spade, bulldozer, or claw; make an excavation.
2. to make one's way or work by or as by removing or turning over material: to dig through the files.
–verb (used with object)
3. to break up, turn over, or loosen (earth, sand, etc.), as with a shovel, spade, or bulldozer (often fol. by up).
4. to form or excavate (a hole, tunnel, etc.) by removing material.
5. to unearth, obtain, or remove by digging (often fol. by up or out).
6. to find or discover by effort or search.
7. to poke, thrust, or force (usually fol. by in or into): He dug his heel into the ground.
–noun
8. thrust; poke: He gave me a dig in the ribs with his elbow.
9. a cutting, sarcastic remark.
10. an archaeological site undergoing excavation.
11. digs, Informal. living quarters; lodgings.
—Verb phrases
12. dig in,
a. to dig trenches, as in order to defend a position in battle.
b. to maintain one's opinion or position.
c. to start eating.
13. dig into, Informal. to attack, work, or apply oneself voraciously, vigorously, or energetically: to dig into one's work; to dig into a meal.
14. dig out,
a. to remove earth or debris from by digging.
b. to hollow out by digging.
c. to find by searching: to dig out facts for a term paper.
15. dig up,
a. to discover in the course of digging.
b. to locate; find: to dig up information.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME diggen, perh. repr. an OE deriv. of dīc ditch; MF diguer to dig (< MD) is attested later and appar. not the immediate source

dig

2  [dig]
–verb (used with object), dug, dig⋅ging. Slang.
1. to understand: Can you dig what I'm saying?
2. to take notice of: Dig those shoes he's wearing.
3. to like, love, or enjoy: She digs that kind of music. We really dig each other.
Origin:
1935–40; perh. < Ir (an) dtuig(eann tú mé?) do you understand me? and parallel expressions with tuigim I understand (see twig 2 )

dig.

 
digest.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To dig
dig   (dĭg)   
v.   dug (dŭg), dig·ging, digs

v.   tr.
  1. To break up, turn over, or remove (earth or sand, for example), as with a shovel, spade, or snout, or with claws, paws or hands.
    1. To make or form by removing earth or other material: dig a trench; dug my way out of the snow.
    2. To prepare (soil) by loosening or cultivating.
    3. To obtain or unearth by digging: dig coal out of a seam; dug potatoes from a field.
    4. To obtain or find by an action similar to digging: dug a dollar out of his pocket; dug the puck out of the corner.
    5. To understand fully: Do you dig what I mean?
    6. To like, enjoy, or appreciate: "They really dig our music and, daddy, I dig swinging for them" (Louis Armstrong).
    7. To take notice of: Dig that wild outfit.
    1. To obtain or unearth by digging: dig coal out of a seam; dug potatoes from a field.
    2. To obtain or find by an action similar to digging: dug a dollar out of his pocket; dug the puck out of the corner.
    3. To understand fully: Do you dig what I mean?
    4. To like, enjoy, or appreciate: "They really dig our music and, daddy, I dig swinging for them" (Louis Armstrong).
    5. To take notice of: Dig that wild outfit.
  4. To learn or discover by careful research or investigation: dug up the evidence; dug out the real facts.
  5. To force down and into something; thrust: dug his foot in the ground.
  6. To poke or prod: dug me in the ribs.
  7. Sports To strike or redirect (a ball) just before it hits the ground, as in tennis or volleyball.
  8. Slang
    1. To understand fully: Do you dig what I mean?
    2. To like, enjoy, or appreciate: "They really dig our music and, daddy, I dig swinging for them" (Louis Armstrong).
    3. To take notice of: Dig that wild outfit.
v.   intr.
  1. To loosen, turn over, or remove earth or other material.
  2. To make one's way by or as if by pushing aside or removing material: dug through the files.
  3. Slang To have understanding: Do you dig?
n.  
  1. A poke or thrust: a sharp dig in the ribs.
  2. A sarcastic, taunting remark; a gibe.
  3. An archaeological excavation.
  4. Sports An act or an instance of digging a ball.
  5. digs Lodgings.
Phrasal Verb(s):
dig in
  1. To dig trenches for protection.
  2. To hold on stubbornly, as to a position; entrench oneself.
    1. To begin to work intensively.
    2. To begin to eat heartily.

Idiom(s):
dig in (one's) heelsTo resist opposition stubbornly; refuse to yield or compromise.

Idiom(s):
dig it outSlang To run as fast as one can, especially as a base runner in baseball.

[Middle English diggen; perhaps akin to Old French digue, dike, trench; see dhīgw- in Indo-European roots. V., tr., sense 8 and intr., sense 3, perhaps influenced by Wolof degg, to hear, find out, understand, or Irish Gaelic tuigim, I understand.]
Our Living Language  : In its slang sense of "to enjoy," dig is one of the many words and expressions that come from African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Like cool, it is first recorded in 1930s jazz circles. While several AAVE expressions that have entered standard English from jazz still have musical associations, many others do not, and quite a few are so ordinary today that their origin in AAVE is not at all obvious. Some are no longer regarded as slang, such as badmouth, cakewalk, nitty-gritty, and main man. Others, like fox, "sexy woman," gig, and chump change are still slang or informal.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dig

Dig\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dugor Digged; p. pr. & vb. n. Digging. -- Digged is archaic.] [OE. diggen, perh. the same word as diken, dichen (see Dike, Ditch); cf. Dan. dige to dig, dige a ditch; or (?) akin to E. 1st dag. ???.]

1. To turn up, or delve in, (earth) with a spade or a hoe; to open, loosen, or break up (the soil) with a spade, or other sharp instrument; to pierce, open, or loosen, as if with a spade.

Be first to dig the ground. --Dryden.

2. To get by digging; as, to dig potatoes, or gold.

3. To hollow out, as a well; to form, as a ditch, by removing earth; to excavate; as, to dig a ditch or a well.

4. To thrust; to poke. [Colloq.]

You should have seen children . . . dig and push their mothers under the sides, saying thus to them: Look, mother, how great a lubber doth yet wear pearls. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

To dig down, to undermine and cause to fall by digging; as, to dig down a wall.

To dig from, out of, out, or up, to get out or obtain by digging; as, to dig coal from or out of a mine; to dig out fossils; to dig up a tree. The preposition is often omitted; as, the men are digging coal, digging iron ore, digging potatoes.

To dig in, to cover by digging; as, to dig in manure.

Dig

Dig\, v. i. 1. To work with a spade or other like implement; to do servile work; to delve.

Dig for it more than for hid treasures. --Job iii. 21.

I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed. --Luke xvi. 3.

2. (Mining) To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.

3. To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously. [Cant, U.S.]

Dig

Dig\, n. 1. A thrust; a punch; a poke; as, a dig in the side or the ribs. See Dig, v. t., 4. [Colloq.]

2. A plodding and laborious student. [Cant, U.S.]

Dig

Dig\, v. i. 1. To work hard or drudge; specif. (U. S.): To study ploddingly and laboriously. [Colloq.]

Peter dug at his books all the harder. --Paul L. Ford.

2. (Mach.) Of a tool: To cut deeply into the work because ill set, held at a wrong angle, or the like, as when a lathe tool is set too low and so sprung into the work.

To dig out, to depart; to leave, esp. hastily; decamp. [Slang, U. S.]

Dig

Dig\, n. 1. A tool for digging. [Dial. Eng.]

2. An act of digging.

3. An amount to be dug.

4. (Mining) = Gouge.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : dig
Spanish: cavar,
German: umgraben,
Japanese: 掘る
More Translations »

dig 
c.1320 (diggen), of uncertain origin, probably related to dike and ditch, either via O.Fr. diguer (ult. from a Gmc. source), or directly from an unrecorded O.E. word. Native words were deolfan, grafan (medial -f- pronounced as "v" in O.E.). Meaning "thrust or poke" (as with an elbow) is from 1819; figurative sense of this is from 1840. Slang sense of "understand" first recorded 1934 in Black English, probably based on the notion of "excavate." A slightly varied sense of "appreciate" emerged 1939. Noun meaning "archaeological expedition" is from 1896. Digs "lodgings" is slang from 1893.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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