diggings

[ dig-ingz for 1–3; dig-uh nz for 4 ]

/ ˈdɪg ɪŋz for 1–3; ˈdɪg ənz for 4 /

(usually used with a singular verb) a place where digging is carried on.

(used with a plural verb) a mining operation or locality.

(used with a plural verb) something that is removed from an excavation.

(used with a plural verb) Chiefly British Informal. dig¹(def 11).

Origin of diggings

First recorded in 1530–40; dig¹ + -ing¹ + -s³

In 1901 the diggings around Circle City produced about £30,000.

From Paris to New York by Land |Harry de Windt
At first, when we arrived at the Mormon diggings, for example, everything was tranquil.

California |J. Tyrwhitt Brooks
The odd two or three hundred will be enough, to carry the loser back to the diggings.

Lost Lenore |Charles Beach
Cubical masses of it are found, at some of the diggings, which are studded over with minute crystals of calcareous spar.

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820 |Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

Do you think scars are such uncommon things with men as works hard at the diggings, that you can swear to one scar?

Frank Oldfield |T.P. Wilson

diggings

/ (ˈdɪɡɪŋz) /

(functioning as plural) material that has been dug out

(functioning as singular or plural) a place where mining, esp gold mining, has taken place

(functioning as plural) British informal a less common name for digs