American Heritage Dictionary Entry: dig HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com dig (dĭg) Share: Tweet v. dug (dŭg), dig·ging, digs v.tr. 1. To break up, turn over, or remove (earth or sand, for example), as with a shovel, spade, or snout, or with claws, paws or hands. 2. a. To make or form by removing earth or other material: dig a trench; dug my way out of the snow. b. To prepare (soil) by loosening or cultivating. 3. a. To obtain or unearth by digging: dig coal out of a seam; dug potatoes from a field. b. To obtain or find by an action similar to digging: dug a dollar out of his pocket; dug the puck out of the corner. 4. To learn or discover by careful research or investigation: dug up the evidence; dug out the real facts. 5. To force down and into something; thrust: dug his foot in the ground. 6. To poke or prod: dug me in the ribs. 7. Sports To strike or redirect (a ball) just before it hits the ground, keeping it in play, as in tennis or volleyball. 8. Slang a. To understand fully: Do you dig what I mean? b. To like, enjoy, or appreciate: "They really dig our music and, daddy, I dig swinging for them" (Louis Armstrong). c. To take notice of: Dig that wild outfit. v.intr. 1. To loosen, turn over, or remove earth or other material. 2. To make one's way by or as if by pushing aside or removing material: dug through the files. 3. Slang To have understanding: Do you dig? n. 1. A poke or thrust: a sharp dig in the ribs. 2. A sarcastic, taunting remark; a gibe. 3. An archaeological excavation. 4. Sports An act or an instance of digging a ball. 5. digs Lodgings.Phrasal Verb: dig in 1. To dig trenches for protection. 2. To hold on stubbornly, as to a position; entrench oneself. 3. To begin to work intensively. 4. To begin to eat heartily.Idioms: dig in (one's) heels To resist opposition stubbornly; refuse to yield or compromise. dig it out Slang To run as fast as one can, especially as a base runner in baseball. [Middle English diggen; perhaps akin to Old French digue, dike, trench; see dhīgw- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Our Living Language In its slang sense of "to enjoy," dig is one of the many words and expressions that come from African American Vernacular English. Like cool, it is first recorded in 1930s jazz circles. While several AAVE expressions that have entered colloquial American English from jazz still have musical associations, many others do not, and quite a few are so ordinary today that their origin in AAVE is not at all obvious. Some are no longer regarded as slang, such as badmouth, cakewalk, nitty-gritty, and main man. Others, like fox (sexy woman), gig, and chump change are still slang or informal. Of course, American slang has received terms from other musical genres besides jazz and rap. For instance, emo was first used for an often "emotional" genre of rock music originating in the 1980s, and has since been extended to mean "angst-filled, melancholy, or sad." (click for a larger image)dig Andrew Schacht of Australia at the 2007 Beach Volleyball World Championships Gstaad, Switzerland The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. American Heritage Dictionary Products The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th Edition The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms The American Heritage Roget's Thesaurus Curious George's Dictionary The American Heritage Children's Dictionary CONTACT US Customer Service Make Me An Author Ebooks Help with Glose Reader ABOUT US Company Profile Leadership Team Corporate Social Responsibility HarperCollins Careers HarperCollins Imprints HarperGreen Social Media Directory Accessibility FOR READERS Browse Reading Guides FOR AUTHORS Submit a Manuscript Report Piracy Agent Portal MEDIA Publicity Contacts Press Room SERVICES HarperCollins Speakers Bureau Library Services Academic Services Desk & Exam Copies Review Copies OpenBook API Marketing Partnerships COVID-19 RESOURCES & PERMISSIONS Permissions for Adult Online Readings Permissions for Kids Online Readings SALES & RIGHTS Booksellers & Retailer Ordering HarperCollins Catalogs Permissions Subsidiary Rights Media Rights and Content Development GLOSE APP iPhone Android GLOBAL DIVISIONS HarperCollins US HarperCollins Canada HarperCollins Christian HarperCollins Australia HarperCollins India HarperCollins UK Terms of Use • Terms of Sale • Your Ad Choices • Privacy Policy • California Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Personal Information Copyright 2022 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved. *This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.