dig for (something)

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dig for (something)

1. Literally, to dig in search of something that has been buried. My dog has been digging for something out in the yard all morning—I wonder if he buried a bone.
2. By extension, to investigate in an attempt to uncover information about someone or something, often negative information. I've been digging for scandalous information on her but have been unsuccessful so far.
See also: dig, for
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

dig for something

 
1. Lit. to excavate to find something that is buried. They are digging along the river bank for a special kind of clay. I want to dig for gold in Alaska.
2. Fig. to go to great pains to uncover information of some kind. The police were digging for some important information while they questioned Mike "Fingers" Moran. There is no point in digging further for the name of the inventor. I have it right here.
See also: dig, for
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive ?
If he enjoys playing "fetch"--and you have a big enough yard or a park nearby--you may only need ten minutes of throwing a ball for him before he is exhausted enough to not even think about digging for several hours.
Ask the experts
It was hot and dry when I spent the Fourth of July digging for fossils on the 5E Ranch north of Billings, Mont.
Additional Information News Detective: Digging for Bones Questions about the Article Word Find: Dinosaur Dig
Dinosaur dig
That means even more digging for the scientists, often in 40[degrees]C heat and full sun.
Naked and not: two species of mole rats run complex societies underground
The last of the pictures was of the artist the moment after the series of works was completed, in the hole he had been digging for seven days, eight hours a day.
Sheer perspiration
Some of the beds have had organic matter spread over them all winter and this has increased the worm population, aerated the soil, improved the soil structure and done much of the digging for me.
Dig for victory; Gardening extra
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) forage by digging for a variety of starchy plant roots, small mammals, and insects (Ross 1855, Chapman et al.
Our long-term goal in this study is to understand the impact of grizzly bear digging for glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh; Liliaceae) bulbs in subalpine meadows, on both spatial (meadow-wide) and temporal (decades) scales.
Grizzly bear digging for glacier lily bulbs created patches within the subalpine meadow matrix that differed in plant species composition, soil mineral nitrogen abundance, and chemical content of the revegerating glacier lilies.
In our study meadows, grizzly bear digging for glacier lilies is the primary cause of patches of bare mineral soil, apparently ideal places for colonization by the next generation of these long-lived lilies.
Grizzly bear digging: effects on subalpine meadow plants in relation to mineral nitrogen availability
Where radar turns up objects worth digging for, archaeologists can apply their shovels precisely and spare landscapes from much of the scarring that less-directed digging brings.
Seeing past the dirt: using ground-penetrating radar to focus archaeological digs
If he enjoys playing 'fetch' and you have a big enough yard or nearby park, you may only need ten minutes of throwing a ball for him before he is exhausted enough to not even think about digging for several hours.
Ask Dr. Houpt
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