dig up
Idioms-
Search out, find, obtain, as in I'm sure I can dig up a few more supporters . [Mid-1800s]
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. Find derogatory information about someone or something. For example, The editor assigned him to dig up all the dirt on the candidates . The slangy use of the noun dirt for “embarrassing or scandalous information” dates from about 1840, but this metaphoric expression is a century newer.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That set off days of intensive efforts using boats to make waves, then excavators to dig up sand and free the whale, as fears grew for its life.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
Although it is unclear whether the accounts betting on the Iran cease-fire are insiders, an investigation by Polymarket could dig up the truth.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026
He’ll even dig up the grave of a suitable love match.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
Still, “North” and “South” teams of lawyers were dispatched for multiday trips to California to dig up facts and interview officials at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Francisco and UCLA.
From Salon • Dec. 13, 2025
I’d had the idea to dig up Dad’s coffin the night after I met the renter.
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.