▪ I. dig, v.
(dɪg)
Forms: 4–6 dygge(n, 4–7 digge, (5 degge), 6– dig. pa. tense and pple. digged (4 -ide, 5 dygged, deggyd, deghit); also dug (pa. tense 8–, pa. pple. 6–; in 7 dugg).
[Found since 14th c.; prob. a. F. diguer, according to Darmesteter properly ‘creuser la terre’, to dig or hollow out the ground, by extension = ‘piquer’ to prick or prod, as now used in Normandy; also, in the Manège, diguer un cheval to dig the spur into a horse; related to F. digue dike, also to F. digon, digot, iron prongs for catching fish and shell-fish, digonner ‘to dig, or pricke (Norm.)’ Cotgr. Cf. also Da. dige dike, ditch, trench, v. to raise a dike.
Dig cannot be derived from, or in any way directly related to, OE. d{iacu}c dike, ditch, and d{iacu}cian to dike, embank, from which it differs both in vowel and final consonant; but if the French derivation be correct, it goes back through F. to the same Teutonic root. It is properly a weak verb, pa. tense and pple. digged, but in 16th c. received a strong pa. pple. dug, analogous to stuck, which since 18th c. has also been used as pa. tense.]
I. intr.
1. a. ‘To work in making holes or turning the ground’ (J.); to make an excavation; to work with a spade or other tool similarly employed. spec. To make an archæological excavation.
Locally the word was, and in some cases still is, the technical term for working with a mattock as distinguished from a spade, the latter being ‘graving’ or ‘delving’. Cf. quots. 1530, 1691; also 1611, 1888 in sense 4.
| c 1320 Orfeo 239 in Ritson Met. Rom. II. 258 Now he most bothe digge and wrote, Er he have his fille of rote. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 99 Digge about þe vyne rotis. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 159 (Mätz.) Þey founde a mannis hede in þat place while þey digged. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxvi. 267 Thei schullen dyggen and mynen so strongly. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 121/1 Dyggyn, supra in delvyn. c 1440 Gesta Rom. iii. 7 (Harl. MS.) He toke a shoville, and dyggyd in the erthe. c 1500 Ballad on Money in Halliw. Nugae Poet. 48 The plowman hymselfe dothe dyge and delve In storme, snowe, frost and rayne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 120 b, They that dygge for water. 1530 Palsgr. 516/1, I dygge in the grounde with a mattocke. 1607 Dekker Wh. of Babylon Wks. 1873 II. 197 When mines are to be blowne vp men dig low. 1611 Bible Exod. vii 24 The Egyptians digged round about the riuer. 1691 F. Brokesby in Ray N.C. Words, s.v. Dig, In Yorkshire, they distinguish between digging and graving; to dig is with a Mattock; to grave, with a Spade. 1740 W. Stukeley Stonehenge x. 43 (heading) How the body is posited. What has been found in digging into these barrows. c 1755 Johnson Review Blackwell's Mem. Crt. Augustus Wks. X. 185 Mr. Blackwell has neither digged in the ruins of any demolished city, nor [etc.]. 1836 Emerson Nat., Spirit Wks. (Bohn) II. 168 If labourers are digging in the field hard by. 1873 C. Robinson N.S. Wales 35 He went so far as to recommend the unemployed miners of Cornwall to come out here and dig for it [gold]. 1907 E. Wharton Fruit of Tree i. iii. 32 As an archaeologist..I should really like to come here and dig. 1911 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 125 My orders are to..bring out Woolley (new chief), and the stores and dig for three months. 1912 Ibid. 136, I would like to dig in the Persian gulf. |
b. Said of animals: to excavate the ground with snout or claws.
| 1388 Wyclif Isa. xxxiv. 15 There an irchoun hadde dichis..and diggide aboute [1382 dalf, deluede]. 1535 Coverdale Ibid., There shall the hedghogge buylde, digge..and bringe forth his yonge ones. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 122 They [ants] dug deeper and deeper to deposite their eggs. |
c. fig. with allusion to the general sense; also spec. to study hard and closely at a subject (U.S.). Hence, to understand (cf. sense 6 c) (slang (orig. U.S.)).
| 1789 Trifler No. 43. 549 Youths who never digged for the rich ore of knowledge thro' the pages of the Rambler. 1801 Southey Thalaba iv. xv, 'Tis a well of living waters, Whose inexhaustible bounties all might drink, But few dig deep enough. 1827–8 Harvard Reg. 303 Here the sunken eye and sallow countenance bespoke the man who dug sixteen hours per diem. 1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xii. 165 Laurie ‘dug’ to some purpose that year. 1936 N.Y. World Telegram 6 Oct. 16/1 ‘You dig?’ is a short cut for ‘You understand?’ 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz Amer. 344 The man who really ‘digs’ can more often than not describe the next development in jazz before the musicians have reached it. 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades i. xi. 89 Twist now—you dig? |
d. To have ‘diggings’; to lodge. colloq.
| 1914 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iii. xi. 717 Soon it would come to the point of declaring outright that he did not want to dig with him. 1919 W. T. Grenfell Labrador Dr. (1920) iv. 64 Two or three classmates would ‘dig’ together. |
e. To make incisions with action resembling digging.
| 1930 W. A. Thorpe in Connoisseur Oct. 226/2 To produce relief motives the operator has to ‘dig’ with his wheel at a steep angle to the surface. |
2. With various prepositional constructions: To penetrate or make one's way into or through something by digging; to make an excavation or loosen the soil under anything.
| 1535 Coverdale Ezek. viii. 8 Thou sonne off man, dygge thorow the wall. 1580 Baret Alv. D. 697 To digge vnder an hill, suffodere montem. 1611 Bible Job xxiv. 16 In the darke they digge through houses. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 76 They united themselves by digging through the common walls between house and house. 1705 Addison Trav. (J.), The Italians have often dug into lands described in old authors, as the places where statues or obelisks stood, and seldom failed of success. 1832 Examiner 709/2 He seemed to dig into his subject. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 5 The little boat ploughed and dug through the green and foaming waves. 1877 Holderness Gloss., Dig-into, to set about a job of work in earnest and with energy. |
II. trans.
3. a. To penetrate and excavate or turn up (the ground, or any surface) with a spade or similar tool. spec. to excavate archæologically.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 6747 (Trin.) Þeof hous breking or diggyng ground If mon him smyte [etc.]. 1382 Wyclif Ezek. viii. 8 Sone of man, dig the wal; and whanne Y hadde thurȝ diggide the wal, o dore aperide. 1608 Shakes. Per. i. iv. 5 Who digs hills because they do aspire. 1697 Dryden æneid vi. (R.), A rav'nous vulture..still for the growing liver digg'd his breast. 1743 W. Stukeley Abury xvi. 92 The very same appearances as I had so often seen, in digging the barrows about Stonehenge and Abury. 1912 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 134 The right way to dig a temple. 1949 W. F. Albright Archaeol. of Palestine ii. 41 The initial plan to dig the great site systematically..had to be abandoned because of the prohibitive expense. 1968 R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial 18 It was the richest treasure ever dug from British soil. |
b. Said of an animal penetrating and turning up (the ground) with its snout, etc.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. cii. (1495) 847 The molle hathe a snowte..and dyggeth therwyth the erthe and castyth vpp that he dyggyth. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 398 The bristled Boar..New grinds his arming Tusks, and digs the Ground. |
4. a. spec. To break up and turn over (the soil) with a mattock, spade, or the like, as an operation of tillage. (See sense 1 as to technical use in quot. 1888.)
| 1388 Wyclif Isa. v. 6 It [a vineyard] schal not be kit, and it schal not be diggid, and breris and thornes schulen growe vp on it. 1552 [see digging vbl. n. 1]. 1580 Baret Alv. D 697 That the ground should be dug three foote deepe. 1611 Bible Isa. vii. 25 And on all hilles that shalbe digged with the mattocke. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Improv. 114 Suppos'd to have been digg'd four Inches deep. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Dig, v.t., to work ground with a mattock. Ground is never said to be dug with a spade. 1889 H. H. Romilly Verandah in N. Guinea 200 The first moon is spent in digging the ground. |
† b. To till (a plant) by this operation. Obs.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 54 We..sholde not onely dygge our vyne wele by compunccyon. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 83 The plants of a yeere..must bee discretely digged and dounged. 1626 Bacon Sylva §622 The Vines..are..so much digged and dressed, that their Sap spendeth into the Grapes. |
† c. with together. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xiii. xxix. (Tollem. MS.), On his rigge pouder and erþe is gaderid, and so digged to gederes, þat herbes and smale tren and busches groweþ þeron, so þat þe gret fische semeþ an ylonde. |
5. To make (a hole, hollow place, mine, etc.) by the use of a mattock, spade, or the like; to form by digging; to hollow out; to excavate.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 159 (Mätz.) Some diggeþ caues and dennes. 1388 Wyclif Num. xxi. 18 The pit which the princes diggiden [1382 delueden, doluen]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11363 Þai droppe in the dike þai deghit have for vs. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 113 (Mätz.) To here hys dyrge do, and se hys pet deggyd. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xxi. 30, I haue dygged this well. 1579–80 North Plutarch, Lucullus 569 (Wright Bible Word-bk.) So did Xerxes..cause..a channell to be digged there to passe his shippes through. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 111 Then get thee gone, and digge my graue thy selfe. 1606 Proc. agst. Late Traitors 7 To digge a certain mine under the sayd House of Parliament. 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. ix. 49 Anciently there was no passage through, but in time a way was dig'd through it. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 85 In working their Canoas hollow, they cannot dig them so neat and thin [with stone hatchets]. ― Ibid. 215 Making a Canoa. Then again they turn her, and dig the inside. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 2 The child, who, with a shell, had dug a hole in the sand, to hold the water of the Ocean. 1853 Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 17 Torrents..dig for themselves beds approaching to that form. 1864 H. Ainsworth John Law i. iv. (1881) 91 He..is ever digging mines under our feet. |
6. a. To obtain or extract by excavation; to exhume, unearth; = dig out or up (13, 14). Const. from, out of.
| c 1350 Will. Parlerne 2243 Þat werkmen forto worche ne wonne þidere sone, Stifly wiþ strong tol ston stifly to digge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 271 (Mätz.) In Gallia beþ many good quarers and noble for to digge stoon. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Argilletum..a place where clay is digged. 1601 Holland Pliny xviii. xvii. (Wright Bible Word-bk.), This same toad must be digged out of the ground againe. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 172, I with my long nayles will digge thee pig-nuts. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Wales (R.), Metalls elsewhere are digged..out of the bowells of the land. 1663 Gerbier Counsel D iv a, Chalk..is daily digged here at home. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 681 To declare out of what Quarry the Stones were dugg. 1682 R. Burton Curios. (1684) 30 Rocks out of which the Tinn is digged. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 31 We are..not to make our Bricks of Earth fresh dug, but to dig it in the Autumn. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 221 The Indians..come to it in the summer time to dig the camash root. Mod. The cottagers were busy digging their potatoes. |
b. to dig a badger.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Dig a Badger (in the Hunter's Language) is to raise or dislodge him. 1721–1800 in Bailey. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Dig, to start a badger. |
c. slang (orig. U.S.). (a) To understand, appreciate, like, admire; (b) to look at or listen to; to experience. Cf. sense 1 c.
| 1935 Hot News Sept. 20/2 If you listen enough, and dig him enough, you will realise that that..riff is the high-spot of the record. 1941 Life 15 Dec. 89 Dig me? 1943 M. Shulman Barefoot Boy with Cheek 90 Awful fine slush pump, I mean awful fine. You ought to dig that. 1944 C. Calloway Hepsters Dict., Dig v.—(1) Meet. (2) Look, see. (3) Comprehend, understand. 1944 M. Zolotow Never whistle in Dressing Room iii. 52 When they see a pretty girl they shout, ‘Dig the chick.’ 1947 R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz p. x, I recognize it when I see it, the same as I dig good Jazz when I hear it. 1949 L. Feather Inside Be-Bop iii. 28 Dizzy didn't dig the band's kind of music and the band didn't dig Dizzy. 1958 Punch 8 Jan. 92/1 The lines of communication get tangled. In other words the people don't quite ‘dig’ you. 1958 Listener 29 May 912/1 He wants to ‘dig’ the whole of life, and is convinced that experience comes only to the irresponsible. 1958 Punch 25 June 853/3 Does the beat generation really dig such crazy old-world catch-phrases? 1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 60 If you like the other number, I mean like the looks of them, really dig them sexually. Ibid. 62 Everything you learned, you hadn't learned until you'd really dug it: i.e., made it part of your own experience. 1960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred xviii. 192 Of course he's a man's man, you might not dig him like we do. 1969 New Yorker 29 Nov. 48/1, I just don't dig any of these guys. I don't understand their scenes. |
† 7. To put and cover up (in the ground, etc.) by digging or delving; to bury. Cf. dig in, 11 b.
| 1530 Palsgr. 516/1, I wyll dygge this dogge in to the grounde somwhere for feare of stynkyng. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1658) 797 All the Winter time they dig themselves into the earth. 1647 Trapp Comm. Matt. v. 15 Such idle servants as..dig their talents into the earth. |
8. To thrust, plunge, or force (something) in or into.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 107 As though a sworde were ofte digged and thrust twise or thrise in one place of the bodie. 1832 L. Hunt Sir R. Esher (1850) 258 Delighting, as he went over the noble Lord, to dig his knuckles in his back. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 77 We..dug our feet firmly into the snow. 1883 F. M. Peard Contrad. i, He dug his hands into his pockets, and lounged off. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 37, I dug my spurs into my horse's ribs. |
9. To spur (a horse) vigorously [= F. diguer un cheval]; to thrust, stab, prod; to give (any one) a sharp thrust or nudge (in the ribs, etc.).
| 1530 Palsgr. 516/1, I dygge my horse in the sydes with my spores. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. (Arb.) 102 You shoulde haue sene children..digge and pushe theire mothers under the sides. 1875 Tennyson Q. Mary ii. iii, Gamble thyself at once out of my sight, Or I will dig thee with my dagger. 1881 Mrs. P. O'Donoghue Ladies on Horseback 68, I dug him with my spur, and sent him at it. 1889 Farmer Americanisms, To dig a man in the ribs, is to give him a thrust or blow in the side. |
III. In comb. with adverbs.
10. dig down. a. trans. To bring down or cause to fall by digging.
| 1526–34 Tindale Rom. xi. 3 Lorde, they haue..dygged doune [so 1611 and 1881 R. V.] thyn alters. 1580 Baret Alv. D. 688 To digge downe, defodio. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. vii. §4 (1622) 268 Wicked Citizens..doe overthrow their owne Cities, and digge downe their Walls. |
b. To lower or remove by digging or excavating.
| 1591 Spenser Virg. Gnat 46 Mount Athos..was digged downe. 1778 R. Lowth Transl. Isa. (ed. 12) Notes 313 She ordered the precipices to be digged down. |
c. intr. To pay money from one's own pocket. U.S. colloq.
| 1942 in Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §550/3. 1951 J. Steinbeck Log from ‘Sea of Cortez’ (1958) p. xxvi, She was a wise and tolerant pushover for any hard-luck story... Even when she knew it was a fake she dug down. |
11. dig in. † a. trans. To pierce, stab, penetrate. Obs. (Cf. 9.) b. To put in and cover up by digging. (Cf. dig into in 7.)
| 1530 Palsgr. 516/1, He hath dygged hym in nat withstandyng his almayne ryvettes. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 402/2 The dung..may be dug in without fermentation for most kitchen-garden crops. |
c. To cause to penetrate, to drive in deeply. (Cf. 8.) Colloq. phr. to dig in one's feet, heels, toes: to adopt a firm position; to keep resolutely or obstinately to one's decision, opinion, attitude, etc.
| 1885 Sat. Rev. 6 June 765/2 [Dæmons]..laughing with glee if the..rider cursed or dug in the spurs. 1933 Punch 16 Aug. 174/1, I am prepared to declare mosques open and to grace the inaugurations of new caravanserais, though I personally have no taste for ritual. But at that point I dig in my toes. 1941 L. A. G. Strong Bay 179 One thing I had dug in my heels over was the church I went to. 1956 N. Coward South Sea Bubble i. i. 8 You jumped at him before he had time to get his breath and now he's dug his feet in. |
d. intr. or refl. To fix oneself firmly in a position; spec. (a) Mil., to excavate a trench or the like in order to withstand an attack or consolidate a position; (b) Cricket, to consolidate one's position as a batsman.
| 1851 Knickerbocker XXXVIII. 183 [The crab] pinched, scratched, ‘dug in’, and held on. 1917 A. G. Empey From Fire Step 145 The machine-gunners went over with the fourth wave to consolidate the captured line, or ‘dig in’, as Tommy calls it. 1919 J. B. Morton Barber of Putney xvi. 263 Word came back that they [sc. a platoon] were to go to a certain point and dig in. 1922 Daily Mail 21 Nov. 8 The most alarming of Sir Percival Phillips's disclosures is that our ‘limpets’ in Mesopotamia are digging themselves vigorously in. 1934 C. Day Lewis Hope for Poetry vii. 41 D. H. Lawrence dug himself in in the Unconscious. 1944 Blunden Cricket Country iv. 49 Such a side is free from the solemn rule of ‘digging in’ which big cricket prescribes. 1949 Manch. Guardian Weekly 14 July 2/4 The policy of stimulating expansion rather than digging in to protect the status quo. 1959 Times 29 May 4/4 Watson was bowled by the second ball he received. But..Phillips dug in with gallant determination. |
e. intr. To set to work earnestly and energetically; to work hard. dial. and U.S. colloq.
| [1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Holderness 53/2 Dig-intiv it, lads, and you'll seean get it deean.] 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxxviii, We got to dig in like all git-out. 1951 F. S. Anthony Me & Gus (1953) 26 We'll dig in like niggers, Mark, and show those old jokers over the fence how to smack up wood. |
f. To begin eating, esp. heartily. colloq.
| 1912 Dialect Notes III. 574 Dig in and help us eat the rest of this turkey. 1952 A. Baron With Hope iv. ii. 119 Sit down and dig in. Your grub's getting cold. |
12. dig off. trans. To cut off by digging. rare.
| 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 46/1 He attempted to dig the Isthmus off from the Continent. |
13. dig out. a. trans. To take out, thrust out, extract or remove by excavation. (Cf. 6.) fig. to obtain, get hold of, or get out by search or effort.
| 1388 Wyclif Job iii. 21 As men diggynge..out [1382 deluende out] tresour. 1526 Tindale Gal. iv. 15 Ye wolde have digged [1534 plucked] out youre awne eyes, and haue geven them to me. 1580 Baret Alv. D 697 To digge out ones eies, elidere alicui oculos. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 690 Soon had his..crew Op'nd into the Hill a spacious wound And dig'd out ribs of Gold. 1772 Hutton Bridges 94 The sand having been previously digged out for that purpose. 1847–78 Halliwell, Dig out, to unearth the badger. |
| fig. 1864 R. B. Kimball Was he successful? II. xi. 259 It was their habit to go over their lessons together, after Chellis had ‘dug out’ his. 1877 Gentl. Mag. CCXL. 596 This last-named prince..had hidden himself in a cupboard in the midst of a roll of carpet, and was with difficulty dug out to be girt with the sword of Othman. 1887 Harper's Mag. May 884/2, I don't believe it is worth while to dig out the glasses. 1929 ‘P. Williams’ Jacob's Ladder xix. 269 It was Carolyn who..dug out two old volumes of eighteenth century pictures lying forgotten in a cupboard. 1930 Daily Express 30 July 3/7 England..may need more batsmen of the type who have to be dug out. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. B2/2 The Europeans..can dig out many reasons for their shortcomings. |
b. To excavate, to form by excavation. Cf. dug-out (canoe).
| 1748 Relat. Earthq. Lima Pref. 9 These usually were Caves, or Hollows dug-out in the Mountains. |
c. intr. To depart, elope. (U.S. colloq.)
| 1884 S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain) Adv. Huckleberry Finn (Farmer Amer.), Then I jumped in a canoe, and dug out for our place..as hard as I could go. 1888 Detroit Free Press 21 July (Farmer Amer.), She dug out last night with a teamster. |
14. dig up. a. trans. To take or get out of the ground, etc., by digging or excavating; to exhume, disinter, unearth. Also fig. to obtain, find, search out (cf. 13 a) (now colloq.) to dig up the hatchet, to renew strife: see hatchet. (Cf. 6.)
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) ix. 107 He [John the Baptist] was..buryed at Samarie. And there let Julianus Apostata dyggen him vp. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 1126, I se a gras of grete solas, Were hyt dyggyd uppe by the rote, Of many thyngs hit myght be bote. 1535 Coverdale Job iii. 21 Those that dygge vp treasure. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. v. i. 135 Oft haue I dig'd vp dead men from their graues. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. (1723) 81 There are dig'd up Trees..in some Northern Islands, in which there are at this Day growing no Trees at all. 1726–7 Swift Gulliver ii. vii. 160 Huge bones and skulls, casually dug up in several parts of the kingdom. 1858 Glenny Gard. Everyday Bk. 267/1 Jerusalem Artichokes, Dig them up if it be not done already. 1889 Farmer Amer., To dig up the hatchet, a phrase decidedly Indian in origin..This [the hatchet] was buried to signify the putting away of strife; and digging up the hatchet, meant a renewal of warfare. |
| fig. 1611 Bible Prov. xvi. 27 An vngodly man diggeth vp euill: and in his lips there is a burning fire. 1861 Bright Sp. India 19 Mar., A Committee to dig up all the particulars of our supposed perils. 1895 Century Mag. Sept. 674/1, I heard he was tryin' to dig up a trade with a man who's got a mine over in the Slocan country. 1909 ‘O. Henry’ Options 50 Ogden digs up a deck of cards, and we play casino. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren iii. 53 ‘Tell us news, not history.’ ‘Where did you dig that up?’ |
b. To excavate, break up or open by digging.
| 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 73 Kyng Utopus..caused . xv . myles space of vplandyshe grounde..to be cut and dygged vp and so brought the sea rounde aboute the land. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. iii. 27 If I digg'd vp thy forefathers Graues, And hung their rotten Coffins vp in Chaynes. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 132 The English government would be unable to equip a fleet without digging up the cellars of London in order to collect the nitrous particles from the walls. |
c. To break up and loosen the soil of, by digging: said esp. of a place not previously or recently dug.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 109 Dikeres & delueres digged vp þe balkes. a 1698 Temple (J.), You cannot dig up your garden too often. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 247 He directs the moss to be delved or dug up with spades. 1889 Boldrewood Robbery under Arms (1890) 7 He dug up a little garden in front. |
Hence digged (dɪgd), ˈdigging ppl. adjs.
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 504 Þat was þe dygginge devel þat dreccheþ men ofte. 1552 Huloet, Dygged, fossitius. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 302 In a well husbanded and digd ground. 1617 Janua Ling. 170 Souldiers..lie in digged trenches. |
▪ II. dig, n.1
Also 9 (Sc.) deg.
[f. prec. vb.]
1. a. An act of digging; the plunging or thrusting (of a spade, or the like) into the ground.
| 1887 Pall Mall G. 15 Oct. 11/1 The price which is obtained for the excavated sand..just meets the expense of the dig out. 1894 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 66 At each ‘dig’ four sets of forks are thrust into the ground. |
b. colloq. An archæological excavation; an expedition for the purpose of an archæological excavation.
| 1896 A. J. Evans in Academy 13 June 494/1 He showed me several clay bulls..obtained through his dig. 1908 Chambers's Jrnl. July 527/1 They [sc. tomb-hunters] speak of the different excavations as ‘digs’. 1911 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 112 We are only two on this dig. 1940 ‘M. Innes’ Secret Vanguard vi. 56 The dig at Dabdab must be completed before the rains. 1957 K. M. Kenyon Digging up Jericho 39 The first stages of a dig..start long before one actually gets down to excavating. 1969 Times 23 Jan. 13/1 The many archaeological digs that have been going on since the beginning of the Aswan Dam project. |
2. A definite depth or quantity to be dug out.
| 1890 Daily News 4 Sept. 6/4 For every ‘dig’ 30s. is to be paid to the gang. The ‘dig’ is to be 9 ft. measured from where the crane plumbs in the hatchway. |
3. A tool for digging; a mattock, pick-axe, etc.
| 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words, Dig, a Mattock. 1877 Holderness Gloss., Dig, a mattock; a navvy's pick. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Dig, an instrument used for stubbing up roots, more commonly called a stub-dig. ‘As straight as a dig’ is a common proverbial expression. |
4. a. A thrust, a sharp poke, as with the elbow, fist, or other part of the body.
| 1819 Moore Tom Crib's Mem. 51 While ribbers rung from each resounding frame, And divers digs, and many a ponderous pelt. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize I. 127 (Jam.) Winterton, when he lay down, gave him a deg with his elbow, and swore at him to be quiet. 1843 J. T. J. Hewlett College Life xxxi. (Stratm.) Brunt gave him a hard dig in the ribs. 1855 Browning Holy-Cross Day v, Somebody deal him a dig in the paunch. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 117 A vigorous dig of leg and hatchet into the snow was sufficient to check the motion. |
b. fig. (Cf. hit n.)
| 1840 Hood Miss Kilmansegg, Her Fancy Ball iii, Thus Tories like to worry the Whigs..Giving them lashes, thrashes and digs. 1884 Pall Mall G. 15 Mar. 1/2 The Opposition..caring absolutely for nothing except how to get a dig at the fellows who are in. 1887 E. J. Goodman Too Curious ix, This, of course, was a sly dig at Frank. |
5. A diligent or plodding student. (U.S. Students' slang.)
| 1849 Let. to Yng. Man 14 The treadmill..might be a useful appendage to a college, not as a punishment, but as a recreation for digs. 1851 N.Y. Lit. World 11 Oct. (Bartlett) There goes the dig..How like a parson he eyes his book! 1894 N.Y. Weekly Witness 12 Dec. 2/2 The student who earnestly pursues his scholastic studies is held to be a scrub, or grind, or dig. |
6. pl. Lodgings (cf. digging vbl. n. 5); also occas. as sing. (and Comb.). colloq.
| 1893 Stage 11 May 16/2 ‘Being in the know’ regarding the best ‘digs’ can only be attained by experience. 1905 Varsity 16 Nov. 79/1 An invitation from a friend in digs. 1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once Aboard the Lugger i. i. 27, I have heard that one can work far better by living near the hospital in digs. 1916 W. Owen Let. 6 Nov. (1967) 414, I like this digs far better than the Queen's Hotel life. 1959 A. Lejeune Crowded & Dangerous vii. 78 His old digs..where he lived when he used to work for us. 1959 Times 6 Mar. 12/6 Dig-hunting is a serious business... The good woman is offering you a room in her home for a whole year. |
▪ III. dig, n.2 Obs. exc. dial.
A duck.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 9 Þandon for wylde digges, swannus, and piggus. ? a 1500 Chester Pl., Deluge 189 Heare are doves, diggs, drakes, Redshankes, runninge through the lakes. 1611 Cotgr., Anette, a Ducke, or Dig. 1616 Inventory in Earwaker Powltrey, &c., Sandbach (1890) 135 Three Digs and a Drake. 1884 Cheshire Gloss., Dig, a duck. |
b. Comb., as dig-bird, Lancash., a young duck (Halliwell); dig-meat, duckweed (Chesh. Gloss.).
▪ IV. dig, n.3 Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
(dɪg)
Abbrev. of digger 2 f.
| 1918 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 21 June 221/2 Be shrewd, sweet Dig. Ibid. 22 Nov. 198/1 ‘How far's the war, Dig?’ was the first question we asked. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Oct. 10/3 He gave his verdict: ‘That's good, Dig.; that's strong.’ 1946 E. G. Webber Johnny Enzed in Italy 4 The war has finished and a large number of Old Digs have bustled their way down various gangways. 1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai ii. 25 Often they shouted at us..‘Howsit up in the dress circle, dig?’ |