dig down

(redirected from digging down)

dig down

1. Literally, to dig a hole into something, such as the ground. I had to dig down and create holes in the soil before I could plant the flowers.

2. To spend one's money. We had to dig down after our construction budget ballooned beyond what we had planned.

dig down

and dig deep

1. . Lit. to excavate deeply. They are really having to dig deep to reach bedrock. We are not to the buried cable yet. We will have to dig down some more.

2. Fig. to be generous; to dig deep into one's pockets and come up with as much money as possible to donate to something. (As if digging into one's pocket.) Please dig down. We need every penny you can spare. Dig down deep. Give all you can.

dig down

Pay with money from one's own pocket; be generous. For example, We've got to dig down deep to make the next payment. [Colloquial; c. 1940]

See also: dig, down

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

See also:

References in periodicals archive ?

STEP 1: CULTIVATE AND CLEANSE YOUR first job is to cultivate soil by digging down and turning it over with a garden fork, breaking up any large pieces and removing stones and weed roots as you go.

Plan it earth; Too cold to get in the garden? Not at all! It's a perfect time to dig in and bring borders to life later in the season. Toil is good for the soil

Having spent six weeks digging down to just over three feet in depth, a team from Archaeology Wales are painstakingly documenting and discovering an array of history at their fingertips.

A wealth of history at 'significant' Roman site

"It really minimized how much other stuff was impacted with the structural elements, and it kept the new foundation on the outside of the building, as we were digging down anyway for the water issue.

In pursuit of seismic readiness and more

TWO Kirkby men admitted digging down to snare young badgers in the countryside to train terriers to attack them, a court heard.

Pair admit plan to capture badgers

E[currency]enyurt noted they reached layers from the Hittite period by digging down four meters under the surface of the ground.

Tabal Kingdom settlement found in NevE-ehir

By digging down, players progress in the game toward checkpoints, adding more time to the clock and uncovering treasures and a few surprises.

-Zynga launches Ruby Blast

THERE'LL be no more digging down the back of your own sofa for change if you can name the ex-owner of this kitsch couch.

pounds 250 to reveal dumped sofa's owner

"It appears a dinosaur was digging down and trapping rodent-like mammals in a similar way to coyotes hunting around prairie dog burrows today," New Scientist quoted Simpson as saying.

77 mn years old dino claw prints found in Utah

As Amy learns she cannot trust even the ground under her feet, it becomes clear that mwhile humans were digging down, another species entirely was on its way up.

Doctor Who BBC1, 6.15pm Part [...]

Clean SWeep Fed-up digging down the back of the sofa for the remote control?

Domestic goddess says...

"Panama Fever: Digging Down Gold Mountain" is the story of two Jamaican immigrants who seize the opportunity to join in the Panama Canal project to earn their fortunes.

Panama Fever

The authors pride themselves on digging down beneath marketing hyperbole to talk about what really functions and how.

Windows Server 2008 unleashed

unchanging umm umm umm the hum digging down to whatever is down there is

Song with Thirteen Ibis

We will keep it alive the same way any business is kept alive--by investing in it, by digging down, by digging deep, and by sacrificing.

Judson and Rice talk to Baptists

Colin Drysdale, watch manager at Seaham fire station, said: "He must have been digging down into the earth when he was caught suddenly.