Dive vs. Dig

To swim under water.

To jump into water head-first.

To jump headfirst toward the ground or into another substance.

Example: ‘to dive into home plate’;

To descend sharply or steeply.

(especially with in) To undertake with enthusiasm.

Example: ‘She dove right in and started making improvements.’;

(sports) To deliberately fall down after a challenge, imitating being fouled, in the hope of getting one's opponent penalised.

To cause to descend, dunk; to plunge something into water.

(transitive) To explore by diving; to plunge into.

(figurative) To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.

A jump or plunge into water.

Example: ‘the dive of a hawk after prey’;

A headfirst jump toward the ground or into another substance.

A downward swooping motion.

A swim under water.

A decline.

(slang) A seedy bar, nightclub, etc.

(aviation) Aerial descent with the nose pointed down.

(sports) A deliberate fall after a challenge.

To plunge into water head foremost; to thrust the body under, or deeply into, water or other fluid.

Example: ‘It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them.’; ‘All [the walruses] dove down with a tremendous splash.’; ‘When closely pressed it [the loon] dove . . . and left the young bird sitting in the water.’;

Fig.: To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.

To plunge (a person or thing) into water; to dip; to duck.

To explore by diving; to plunge into.

Example: ‘The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame.’; ‘He dives the hollow, climbs the steeps.’;

A plunge headforemost into water, the act of one who dives, literally or figuratively.

A place of low resort.

Example: ‘The music halls and dives in the lower part of the city.’;

a cheap disreputable nightclub or dance hall

a headlong plunge into water

a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft

drop steeply;

Example: ‘the stock market plunged’;

plunge into water;

Example: ‘I was afraid to dive from the board into the pool’;

swim under water;

Example: ‘the children enjoyed diving and looking for shells’;

To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way.should this be split into senses?

Example: ‘They dug an eight-foot ditch along the side of the road.’; ‘In the wintertime, heavy truck tires dig into the road, forming potholes.’; ‘If the plane can't pull out of the dive it is in, it'll dig a hole in the ground.’; ‘My seven-year-old son always digs a hole in the middle of his mashed potatoes and fills it with gravy before he starts to eat them.’;

(transitive) To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up.

Example: ‘to dig potatoes’; ‘to dig up gold’;

(mining) To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.

To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously.

(figurative) To investigate, to research, often followed by out or up.

Example: ‘to dig up evidence’; ‘to dig out the facts’;

To thrust; to poke.

Example: ‘He dug an elbow into my ribs and guffawed at his own joke.’;

(volleyball) To defend against an attack hit by the opposing team by successfully passing the ball

(slang) To understand or show interest in. should this be split into two senses?

Example: ‘You dig?’;

(slang) To appreciate, or like.

Example: ‘Baby, I dig you.’;

An archeological or paleontological investigation, or the site where such an investigation is taking place.

A plodding and laborious student.

A thrust; a poke.

Example: ‘He guffawed and gave me a dig in the ribs after telling his latest joke.’;

A tool for digging.

(volleyball) A defensive pass of the ball that has been attacked by the opposing team.

A cutting, sarcastic remark.

A rare or interesting vinyl record bought second-hand.

Example: ‘a £1 charity shop dig’;

Digoxin.

Example: ‘dig toxicity’;

To turn up, or delve in, (earth) with a spade or a hoe; to open, loosen, or break up (the soil) with a spade, or other sharp instrument; to pierce, open, or loosen, as if with a spade.

Example: ‘Be first to dig the ground.’;

To get by digging; as, to dig potatoes, or gold.

To hollow out, as a well; to form, as a ditch, by removing earth; to excavate; as, to dig a ditch or a well.

To thrust; to poke.

Example: ‘You should have seen children . . . dig and push their mothers under the sides, saying thus to them: Look, mother, how great a lubber doth yet wear pearls.’;

To like; enjoy; admire.

To work with a spade or other like implement; to do servile work; to delve.

Example: ‘Dig for it more than for hid treasures.’; ‘I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed.’;

To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.

To work hard or drudge;

Example: ‘Peter dug at his books all the harder.’;

Of a tool: To cut deeply into the work because ill set, held at a wrong angle, or the like, as when a lathe tool is set too low and so sprung into the work.

To understand; as, do you dig me?.

To notice; to look at; as, dig that crazy hat!.

To appreciate and enjoy; as, he digs classical music as well as rock.

A thrust; a punch; a poke; as, a dig in the side or the ribs. See Dig, v. t., 4.

A plodding and laborious student.

A tool for digging.

An act of digging.

An amount to be dug.

same as Gouge.

a critical and sometimes sarcastic or insulting remark, but often good-humored; as, celebrities at a roast must suffer through countless digs.

An archeological excavation site.

the site of an archeological exploration;

Example: ‘they set up camp next to the dig’;

an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect;

Example: ‘his parting shot was `drop dead'’; ‘she threw shafts of sarcasm’; ‘she takes a dig at me every chance she gets’;

a small gouge (as in the cover of a book);

Example: ‘the book was in good condition except for a dig in the back cover’;

the act of digging;

Example: ‘there's an interesting excavation going on near Princeton’;

the act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow;

Example: ‘she gave me a sharp dig in the ribs’;

turn up, loosen, or remove earth;

Example: ‘Dig we must’; ‘turn over the soil for aeration’;

create by digging;

Example: ‘dig a hole’; ‘dig out a channel’;

work hard;

Example: ‘She was digging away at her math homework’; ‘Lexicographers drudge all day long’;

remove the inner part or the core of;

Example: ‘the mining company wants to excavate the hillsite’;

poke or thrust abruptly;

Example: ‘he jabbed his finger into her ribs’;

get the meaning of something;

Example: ‘Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?’;