Word.ws English Dictionary

dig deep

dig deep verb: to make a lot of effort with all one's resources.

Verb

dig deep (third-person singular simple present digs deep, present participle digging deep, simple past and past participle dug deep)

  1. (idiomatic) To make a lot of effort with all one's resources.
    • If you want to join the marines, there's no room for laziness. You really have to dig deep.
    • We're taking up a collection to help the Johnson family, who were burned out by a fire last week. Please dig deep and give whatever you can.
    Synonyms:
    dig down

Synonyms of dig deep

Forms of dig deep

third-person singular presentdigs deep
present participledigging deep
past participledug deep
pastdug deep

Origin of dig deep

Evoking such imagery as digging in one's pockets for money or digging in the ground for resources (water from a well, ore from the ground).

Questions about dig deep

What does dig deep mean?
Dig deep means to make a lot of effort with all one's resources.
What part of speech is dig deep?
Dig deep is a verb.
What is the past tense of dig deep?
The past tense of dig deep is dug deep.

Words near dig deep in the dictionary

  1. dig
  2. dig a hole for oneself
  3. dig around
  4. dig box
  5. dig boxes
  6. dig deep
  7. dig down
  8. dig for victory
  9. dig in
  10. dig in one's heels
  11. dig into

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dig deep (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “dig deep.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dig_deep. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.