Meaning & use
unearth
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To dig something up out of the ground.
Grammar: Takes an object: unearth the bones.
Patterns
- unearth something
- unearth something from somewhere
Workers unearthed a Roman coin while digging the foundation.
The dog unearthed an old bone in the garden.
Farmers often unearth stones as they plough the field.
verbtransitivefigurative
To find out or bring to light something hidden, forgotten or secret, often after searching.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a fact or document: unearth a secret.
Patterns
- unearth something
- unearth evidence of something
The reporter unearthed evidence of the company's illegal dumping.
While sorting the attic, we unearthed our grandfather's old letters.
Historians unearthed the original plans in a dusty archive.
Word forms
| third person singular | unearths |
|---|---|
| past tense | unearthed |
| past participle | unearthed |
| -ing form | unearthing |
Common combinations
- unearth evidence
- Detectives unearthed fresh evidence in the old case.
- unearth a secret
- The biography unearths a secret from his early life.
- unearth a treasure
- The diver unearthed a treasure from the wreck.
- unearth remains
- Archaeologists unearthed human remains near the village.
- unearth documents
- The lawyer unearthed documents that proved her claim.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dig up
- Dig up is the casual phrasal verb and works both literally and for finding facts, while unearth sounds a little more formal.
- uncover
- Uncover means to remove a covering and need not involve digging, so it is broader than unearth.
- discover
- Discover simply means to find, but unearth adds the idea that the thing was buried or hidden.
- excavate
- Excavate is a technical word for careful, planned digging at a site, whereas unearth can be an accident.
Opposites
Word family
- earth noun
- soil or ground
- unearthing noun
- the act of finding something hidden
- unearthly adjective
- strange or supernatural, not of this world
- unearthed adjective
- dug up or discovered
Commonly confused: unearth or unearthly?
unearth vs unearthly
Unearthly means eerie or supernatural, as in an unearthly glow; it is not the adjective form of unearth.
Practice
The journalist spent months in the archives and finally ____ proof of the fraud.
Choose one answer.
Unearthed means found something that was hidden, which matches months of searching in archives. Buried, disguised and ignored all point the opposite way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unearth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.