dig
/dɪɡ/ verb, noun
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way. “They dug an eight-foot ditch along the side of the road.”
- verb (transitive) To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up. “to dig potatoes”
- verb (mining) To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
- verb (US, slang, dated) To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously.
- verb (figurative) To investigate, to research, often followed by out or up. “to dig up evidence”
- verb To thrust; to poke. “He dug an elbow into my ribs and guffawed at his own joke.”
- verb (volleyball) To defend against an attack hit by the opposing team by successfully passing the ball
- noun An archeological or paleontological investigation, or the site where such an investigation is taking place.
- noun Any act of digging to find or retrieve something.
- noun A thrust; a poke. “He guffawed and gave me a dig in the ribs after telling his latest joke.”
- noun (archaic, slang) A hard blow, especially (boxing) a straight left-hander delivered under the opponent's guard.
- noun (volleyball) A defensive pass of the ball that has been attacked by the opposing team.
- noun (cricket) An innings.
- noun A cutting, sarcastic remark.
- noun The occupation of digging for gold.
- verb (dated slang) To understand. “You dig?”
- verb (dated slang, transitive) To appreciate, or like. “Baby, I dig you.”
- noun (medicine, colloquial) Digoxin. “dig toxicity”
- noun (Lancashire, obsolete) A duck.
- noun (astronomy) dwarf irregular galaxy
Synonyms
excavation jab jibe dI archeological site shot shaft slam barb gibe digging delve cut into turn over dig out labor labour toil fag travail grind drudge moil dig up excavate hollow prod stab poke grok
Etymology
From Middle English diggen (“to dig”, 13th c.), an alteration of dīken, from Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, mound up earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *dīkōn, which see for cognates. This verb is denominal from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (“pool, puddle; dyke, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”).
The form with g may have been influenced by Old French *diguer, a variant of dikier, itself from the West Germanic verb above. French forms with g are attested only in the 15th c., thus 200 years later than in English. On the other hand, French has according forms also for the underlying noun (cf. digue) and the phonetic development is more plausible in French than in English.
From African American Vernacular English; due to lack of writing of slave speech, etymology is difficult to trace, but it has been suggested that it is from Wolof dëgg, dëgga (“to understand, to appreciate”). It has also been suggested that it is from Irish dtuig, thus being a doublet of twig. Others do not propose a distinct etymology, instead considering this a semantic shift of the existing English term (compare dig in/dig into).
Shortening.
Unknown. Compare Middle English digge.
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.
- verb To get by digging; as, to dig potatoes, or gold.
- verb To work with a spade or other like implement; to do servile work; to delve.
- verb To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
Etymology [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.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dig”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details