Bring to light
To dig up is to unearth something by digging—literally removing soil to extract what's buried: They dug up the old pipes.
The figurative sense dominates in everyday use: to discover or find through effort, especially information that was hidden or forgotten: Reporters dug up evidence of corruption, I dug up some old photos from the attic.
IDEA.org / Words / dig up
Bring to light
To dig up is to unearth something by digging—literally removing soil to extract what's buried: They dug up the old pipes.
The figurative sense dominates in everyday use: to discover or find through effort, especially information that was hidden or forgotten: Reporters dug up evidence of corruption, I dug up some old photos from the attic.
1. investigate — uncover, Reveal what's hidden; reveal (Make something visible); discover (Find something unknown); expose (Make known publicly); find · research · evidence · documents · records · secrets · scandal · dirt · past · history
2. excavate — shovel, Tool for moving earth; spade (Flat-bladed digging implement); trowel (Flat blade for spreading); unearth (Excavate or reveal hidden); soil · hole · garden · buried · roots · plants · potatoes · bulbs · grave · burial
physical excavationdig up ≠ bury Place beneath soil; inter · cover up · rebury · entomb · plant
information discoverydig up ≠ cover up Conceal misdeeds or errors; conceal · suppress · hide · bury · hush up
discovery: find, finding, discovery, discover, finding out; root out: root out, flush out, ferret out, smoke out, weed out; lifting: lift, hoist, crane, elevate, raise; obtaining: get, obtain, acquire, gain, procure; improvise: improvise, make do, wing it, ad-lib, jury-rig
up, dig, dug, digging, digger, diggers, undug, dug up, digging up
Word data: Linguabase (CC0) · www.idea.org/words/dig_up