DIGGINGS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does diggings mean? 

• DIGGINGS (noun)
  The noun DIGGINGS has 2 senses:

1. an excavation for ore or precious stones or for archaeology

2. temporary living quarters

  Familiarity information: DIGGINGS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIGGINGS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An excavation for ore or precious stones or for archaeology

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

diggings; digs

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

excavation (a hole in the ground made by excavating)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Temporary living quarters

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

diggings; digs; domiciliation; lodgings; pad

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

living quarters; quarters (housing available for people to live in)

 Context examples 

Mr. Trevor mumbled something to us about having been shipmate with the man when he was going back to the diggings, and then, leaving us on the lawn, he went indoors.

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

There were six of us, and we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings.

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

And we go on. We leave the Yukon. We cross the divide to the west and swing down into the Tanana Country. There are new diggings there.

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

I was in diggings out Hampstead way—17, Potter’s Terrace.

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

It was in the early ’60’s at the diggings.

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

After an excellent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney, where Evans and I changed our names and made our way to the diggings, where, among the crowds who were gathered from all nations, we had no difficulty in losing our former identities.

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