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dig up

 - 4 dictionary results

dig

1  [dig] verb, dug or (Archaic) digged, dig⋅ging, noun
Use dig up 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
dig

  1. tv. & in.
    to understand something. : I just don't dig what you are saying.
  2. tv.
    to appreciate something; to like something. : He really digs classical music.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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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Idioms & Phrases

dig up

  1. Search out, find, obtain, as in I'm sure I can dig up a few more supporters. [Mid-1800s]

  2. dig up some dirt or the dirt. Find derogatory information about someone or something. For example, The editor assigned him to dig up all the dirt on the candidates. The slangy use of the noun dirt for "embarrassing or scandalous information" dates from about 1840, but this metaphoric expression is a century newer.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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