DIG (digging, dug)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dig mean? 

• DIG (noun)
  The noun DIG has 5 senses:

1. the site of an archeological exploration

2. an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect

3. a small gouge (as in the cover of a book)

4. the act of digging

5. the act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow

  Familiarity information: DIG used as a noun is common.

• DIG (verb)
  The verb DIG has 8 senses:

1. turn up, loosen, or remove earth

2. create by digging

3. work hard

4. remove, harvest, or recover by digging

5. thrust down or into

6. remove the inner part or the core of

7. poke or thrust abruptly

8. get the meaning of something

  Familiarity information: DIG used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The site of an archeological exploration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

archeological site; dig; excavation

Context example:

they set up camp next to the dig

Hypernyms ("dig" is a kind of...):

land site; site (the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located))

Domain category:

archaeology; archeology (the branch of anthropology that studies prehistoric people and their cultures)

Instance hyponyms:

Byblos (an ancient Mediterranean seaport that was a thriving city state in Phoenicia during the second millennium BC; was the chief port for the export of papyrus; located in Lebanon to the north of Beirut; now partially excavated)

Derivation:

dig (turn up, loosen, or remove earth)

dig (remove the inner part or the core of)

dig (create by digging)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

barb; dig; gibe; jibe; shaft; shot; slam

Context example:

she takes a dig at me every chance she gets

Hypernyms ("dig" is a kind of...):

comment; input; remark (a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dig"):

cheap shot (an unnecessarily aggressive and unfair remark directed at a defenseless person)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A small gouge (as in the cover of a book)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the book was in good condition except for a dig in the back cover

Hypernyms ("dig" is a kind of...):

dent; ding; gouge; nick (an impression in a surface (as made by a blow))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of digging

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

dig; digging; excavation

Context example:

there's an interesting excavation going on near Princeton

Hypernyms ("dig" is a kind of...):

creating by removal (the act of creating by removing something)

Derivation:

dig (turn up, loosen, or remove earth)

dig (remove the inner part or the core of)

dig (create by digging)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

dig; jab

Context example:

she gave me a sharp dig in the ribs

Hypernyms ("dig" is a kind of...):

touch; touching (the act of putting two things together with no space between them)

Derivation:

dig (poke or thrust abruptly)

• DIG (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Turn up, loosen, or remove earth

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

cut into; delve; dig; turn over

Context example:

turn over the soil for aeration

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dig"):

spade (dig (up) with a spade)

burrow; tunnel (move through by or as by digging)

trowel (use a trowel on; for light garden work or plaster work)

shovel (dig with or as if with a shovel)

root; rootle; rout (dig with the snout)

furrow; groove; rut (hollow out in the form of a furrow or groove)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Also:

dig in (eat heartily)

dig up (find by digging in the ground)

dig out (dig out from underneath earth or snow)

Derivation:

dig (the site of an archeological exploration)

dig (the act of digging)

digger (a machine for excavating)

digging (the act of digging)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Create by digging

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

dig; dig out

Context example:

dig out a channel

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

core out; hollow; hollow out (remove the interior of)

"Dig" entails doing...:

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dig"):

lift (take (root crops) out of the ground)

trench (dig a trench or trenches)

dibble (make a hole with a wooden hand tool)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

dig (the act of digging)

dig (the site of an archeological exploration)

digger (a machine for excavating)

digger (a laborer who digs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Work hard

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

dig; drudge; fag; grind; labor; labour; moil; toil; travail

Context example:

Lexicographers drudge all day long

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

do work; work (be employed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Remove, harvest, or recover by digging

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

dig; dig out; dig up

Context example:

dig coal

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

excavate; unearth (recover through digging)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Thrust down or into

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

dig your foot into the floor

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

thrust (push forcefully)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Remove the inner part or the core of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

dig; excavate; hollow

Context example:

the mining company wants to excavate the hillside

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dig"):

drive (excavate horizontally)

ditch; trench (cut a trench in, as for drainage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

dig (the act of digging)

dig (the site of an archeological exploration)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Poke or thrust abruptly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

dig; jab; poke; prod; stab

Context example:

he jabbed his finger into her ribs

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

thrust (push forcefully)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

dig (the act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Get the meaning of something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

apprehend; compass; comprehend; dig; get the picture; grasp; grok; savvy

Context example:

Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?

Hypernyms (to "dig" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dig"):

figure (understand)

catch on; cotton on; get it; get onto; get wise; latch on; tumble; twig (understand, usually after some initial difficulty)

intuit (know or grasp by intuition or feeling)

digest (arrange and integrate in the mind)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

 Context examples 

“There's a strong scour with the ebb,” he said, “and this here passage has been dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These shoes, it ran, were dug up in the moat of Holdernesse Hall.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

What is it that they try to find? It is not gold. Never do they dig in the ground. I think a long time.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I had thought that it meant that we were to dig, but now, of course, I saw at once that I was wrong.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you hope to move or fix up your present digs, you might hear sudden, happy news that will help you advance your plans over the weekend of December 14-15.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Located in southwestern France, the Angeac-Charente dig site is unique across all of Europe, with paleontologists having already uncovered around 7,500 bones — from 45 different species of dinosaur — since excavations began back in 2010.

(140 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur’s Huge Bone Found in Southwest France, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

To find ice that astronauts could easily dig up, the study's authors relied on two heat-sensitive instruments: MRO's Mars Climate Sounder and the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on Mars Odyssey.

(NASA's Treasure Map for Water Ice on Mars, NASA)

See where she digs by the wayside.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)