DIG

(MOVE EARTH) [verb] digging, past dug - to move and break up (earth) using a tool, a machine or your handsIf these moles carry on digging, there will soon be no grass left. [I]She spent all afternoon digging (in/up) the garden. [T; I + preposition]To dig some type of hole is to form it by moving earth.The tunnel was dug with the aid of heavy machinery. [T]The dog was furiously digging a hole to hide its bone in. [T]Farmers often dig in fertilizer (= mix it into the earth) before they plant their crops. [M]Firefighters helped to dig out the people trapped in the snowdrift. [M](figurative) The doctor had to dig out (= remove) a piece of glass that had got stuck in my finger. [M]I spent all morning digging out/up weeds (= removing them from the earth) in the garden. [M]They're digging up the road outside in order to repair electricity cables. [M]If you dig yourself (into) a hole, you get yourself into a difficult situation.The government has really dug itself into a hole with its economic policies.We need to find a way of digging ourselves out of this hole (= getting out of the difficult situation that we are in).If you tell someone to dig in at a meal, you ask them to start eating.The food is going cold, dig in!If soldiers dig (themselves) in, they make preparations, such as by digging trenches, to protect themselves from an attack by the enemy.To dig yourself in means to establish yourself in a place.We've lived in this house for twenty years, so we're well dug in.If you dig your own grave, you do something which causes you harm, sometimes seriously.You're digging your own grave by eating so much fatty food.She dug her own grave when she made fun of the boss.