Dug
dʌɡ
Definitions
To break up and move earth or other material, usually with a tool or hands.
dʌɡ
Past tense of 'dig'; to break up and move earth or other material.
I dug a hole in the garden to plant the tomatoes.
💡 Simply: Imagine you are playing in the sandbox and use a shovel to move the sand around. That's like digging! You moved the sand, or dug it out.
👶 For kids: When you use a shovel or your hands to make a hole in the ground, that's digging.
More Examples
The dog dug a hole in the backyard.
They dug a tunnel under the fence.
How It's Used
"He dug a hole to plant the rose bush."
"Archaeologists dug for artifacts at the ancient site."
"They dug the foundation for the new building."
Past tense and past participle of the verb 'dig,' from Old English *dīgan, related to German *teig* (dough, clay), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (to knead, form).
Used since Old English for physical excavation, with extensions to metaphorical searching and uncovering (as in 'dug up a secret') developing over time.
Memory tip
Imagine a dog (DOG) using its paws to DIG in the ground – you DUG a hole.
Word Origin
"to knead, form"