Definition of "dig out" [dig out]

• To find, or retrieve something by removing overlying material, or material that hides it (verb)
• Used other than as an idiom: see dig,‎ out. (verb)

Wiktionary.org : Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• "I eagerly dig out my digital still camera for the first time and take a series of pictures: a close-up of my arm disappearing into the rock; a detail of my anchor system that suspends me in my harness; and two self-portraits—one looking downcanyon, and one from above my left shoulder that shows me with the chockstone."
• "Instead, whenever Ruth came home, LuLing made it a point to take out a spade, get on her hands and knees, and painfully dig out the yellow spots and reseed them, two square inches at a time."
• "It took me three attempts to find a section of the snowpack that was wind-compacted and sufficiently deep to dig out a shelter at 12,000 feet."