digging

digging — noun

1. the activity of breaking up the ground with a spade, a machine, or by hand, usua

1.nounB1
Definition

the activity of breaking up the ground with a spade, a machine, or by hand, usually so that earth can be lifted out to form a hole or to set a plant in place.

Example

After two hours of digging, Theo had a pit deep enough to plant the young apple tree.

after + period of digging

The dog's digging in the flower bed left muddy paw prints all over the patio.

digging in + place noun

Common collocations
  • hours of digging
  • stop digging
  • finish digging
  • deep digging
Synonyms
  • excavation

    more formal; suggests larger or more careful work

  • shovelling

    emphasises the tool and the lifting motion, not making a hole

Antonyms
  • filling in

    the opposite action: putting earth back into a hole

Grammar Patterns

digging for + noun

digging in + noun

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable. Often follows a possessive (his digging, the dog's digging) or appears with prepositions of place: digging in the garden, digging through the soil.

Common Mistakes

I did three diggings in the yard.
I did three hours of digging in the yard.
digging is uncountable; quantify with hours of, a lot of, or some.

2. the work of looking patiently and closely through records or other material to f

2.nounB2
Definition

the work of looking patiently and closely through records or other material to find facts that someone has hidden or that people have stopped paying attention to.

Example

A bit more digging in the council archives revealed who really owned the warehouse.

a bit more + digging

Élise spent three nights digging through old emails for proof of the deal.

digging through + records

Common collocations
  • a bit of digging
  • some digging
  • weeks of digging
  • careful digging
Synonyms
  • investigation

    more formal and more systematic; often official

  • research

    neutral and broader; not always about hidden facts

  • snooping

    informal and disapproving; suggests prying into private matters

Grammar Patterns

digging into + noun

digging through + noun

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this never refers to soil. The object of investigation is named with into + topic (digging into someone's past) or through + source (digging through files). Common in journalism and detective contexts.

Common Mistakes

She did some digging the company.
She did some digging into the company.
this sense needs into before the topic being investigated.

3. in volleyball, the move of stopping a fast or low ball with your forearms held f

3.nounC1
Definition

in volleyball, the move of stopping a fast or low ball with your forearms held flat together and your knees bent, so that a teammate can play the next shot.

Example

Coach Haruto spent the morning teaching the new players the basics of digging.

basics of digging (sport sense)

Salma's quick digging saved three points in the final set against the visiting team.

quick digging + saved points

Common collocations
  • good digging
  • poor digging
  • the basics of digging
Synonyms
  • the dig

    the single action; digging refers to the skill or repeated action

Grammar Patterns

digging in volleyball

Usage Note

A sport-specific term. Usually appears with adjectives describing skill (good, poor, quick) or in instructional phrases (the basics of digging). Outside volleyball coverage, readers may not recognise this sense.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe moving earth, but the picture each one creates is different. Digging is the everyday word: a person with a spade, or a child with a plastic toy, breaking up the soil. Excavation is more formal and is the term you choose when the work is large, careful, or planned — building sites, archaeological projects, and engineering reports use it. Shovelling focuses on the tool and the action of lifting and tossing material, and it works for snow or coal, not only soil. Burrowing is what animals (rabbits, moles) do, or what a person does when they push themselves under blankets — the idea is making a tunnel by pushing in, not lifting earth out. Compare 'a weekend of digging in the garden' (relaxed home work), 'the excavation of the Roman wall' (planned, expert), and 'the rabbits' burrowing under the fence' (animals, tunnels).

digging ↗excavation ↗shovellingburrowing

Common collocations

Nouns

  • hours of digging
  • a bit of digging
  • some digging
  • weeks of digging

Adverbs

Phrases

  • after some digging
  • do some digging
  • stop digging

Prepositions

  • digging in
  • digging through
  • digging into
  • digging for

Etymology

Germanic rootOld French diguerMiddle English diggenModern English

The form is the -ing noun built from the verb 'dig', which has been part of English since the late Middle Ages. The verb itself is of uncertain origin; many editors connect it to Old French 'diguer' meaning to make a ditch, which in turn comes from a Germanic root linked to 'dyke' and 'ditch'. The figurative sense — searching patiently for hidden information — grew naturally out of the physical sense in the 1800s, picturing a researcher as someone turning over piles of earth to find what is buried.