dig

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /dɪg/
• SAMPA: /dIg/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

Plain form dig

Third-person singular digs

Past tense dug

Past participle dug

Present participle digging

A man digging a hole

1. (transitive & intransitive) If you dig a hole, you make it bigger by removing material, usually using a shovel or your hands.

   You will need to dig the hole larger than the roots of the tree you want to plant.

   They've been digging for gold for months, but they haven't found a thing.

2. (transitive & intransitive) If you dig somewhere for something, you look there for it.

   He dug in his pocket for another ten cents.

   After digging through the files, he finally found what he was looking for.

3. (transitive) If you dig something, you take it out of the ground, usually using a shovel.

   Can you go out to the garden and dig some onions?

4. (intransitive) If you dig up dirt on someone, you find hidden information that can hurt them.

   Before the trial, they dug up a bunch of dirt on her.

5. (transitive) If you dig a hole for yourself, you make your own problems.

   Mr. Bush has dug himself a hole that he can't get out of.

6. (transitive), (slang) If you dig something, you like it.

   I really dig your new car.

Noun

Singular dig

Plural digs

1. (countable) A dig is a short negative comment about someone.

   In a dig at the teacher, he said she's lucky to be right even once in a while.

2. (countable) A dig is a place where people are digging.

   There's a dig in the middle of the city where they found some old bones.

3. (plural only) (slang) (UK) Your digs is the room that you rent to live in.