Definition
In legal usage, digging means excavation or the mechanical removal of earth, rock, or other subsurface material. Courts have consistently construed the term broadly, holding that digging is synonymous with excavating and is not limited to the removal of loose soil or earth — it extends to the removal of rock and other subsurface matter as well. The term appears most frequently in contracts, municipal ordinances, and property disputes involving construction, mining, drainage, or utility work.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The action performed by a person or thing that digs; a place where ore is dug, especially mining localities; accommodation or lodgings (informal: "digs"); a region or locality.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The act or place of excavating; places where ore is dug, especially gold-bearing localities in California, Australia, and elsewhere; region or locality (low usage).
The common understanding of "digging" suggests physical effort with a hand tool and connotes only the removal of loose earth. The legal construction is broader: it encompasses mechanical excavation, removal of rock as well as soil, and any substantial disturbance of the subsurface. A contractor or property owner who argues that a prohibition on "digging" does not cover rock blasting or mechanical trenching is working against the settled legal interpretation.
Common Confusion
Digging vs. grading or filling: In land use and construction contracts, digging (excavation downward) is sometimes conflated with grading (leveling or reshaping surface) or filling (adding material). These are distinct operations with potentially different permit requirements and liability consequences. A document authorizing "digging" does not necessarily authorize grading or fill.
Digging vs. mining: In property and resource law, digging typically refers to a discrete, localized excavation. Mining implies systematic extraction of subsurface resources over time and triggers a different body of regulatory and property law. The two terms can overlap in placer or surface mining contexts, but should not be treated as interchangeable when the legal consequence depends on the scope of subsurface rights being exercised.
Why It Matters in Research
The primary research value of this term is its judicially expanded scope. When a historical contract, deed covenant, municipal ordinance, or court document uses the word "digging," do not assume it is limited to earth removal. The New York authority cited in all four source dictionaries — Sherman v. New York — establishes that digging encompasses rock excavation and subsurface work generally. This matters in at least three research contexts:
Contract disputes: A contractor's obligation to perform "digging" may include removal of subsurface rock even if not expressly mentioned. Conversely, a prohibition on "digging" in a deed covenant or lease may be broad enough to restrict blasting or mechanical excavation.
Municipal and regulatory sources: Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ordinances frequently regulated "digging" near streets, utilities, or foundations. Researchers interpreting those sources should apply the excavating-equivalent construction rather than a narrow earth-only reading.
Mining and resource history: In gold rush and mineral extraction contexts, "the diggings" referred to a working mining locality — a distinct usage from the legal term. Historical documents about California or Australian gold fields use "diggings" geographically and colloquially, not as a term of art about excavation rights. Do not conflate this vernacular usage with legal disputes over excavation authority.
The term's apparent simplicity is a trap. It is short and familiar, which invites researchers to skim past it in primary sources. The judicial gloss expanding it to include rock removal is not intuitive and is not reflected in common usage.
Historical Dictionary Support
All four source dictionaries converge on the same core proposition: digging is synonymous with excavating and is not confined to earth removal. Black's (1st ed.), Bouvier's, and Black's (2nd ed.) cite the New York authority for the rock-inclusive construction. Anderson's Dictionary of Law reaches the same conclusion and makes the rock distinction explicit — digging "may mean excavating, and not be confined to removing earth as distinguished from rock."
The unanimity across sources is notable. There is no divergence among the historical legal dictionaries on this point. All are brief, which reflects the relative simplicity of the legal issue: the entire doctrinal content is the expanded scope of the term. What the historical dictionaries do not address is the digging/mining distinction, the regulatory context, or the informal geographic usage common in the same era. Researchers working in mining law or western land history should supplement these entries with period-specific treatises and land office records.
Jurisdictional Note
The controlling authority cited in the historical dictionaries is a New York decision. While the broad construction of digging as equivalent to excavation has been widely followed, specific permit schemes, deed restriction interpretations, and subsurface rights frameworks vary by state. In jurisdictions with active hard-rock mining histories (Nevada, California, Colorado), local case law and regulatory definitions may further specify what operations qualify as excavation for permitting purposes.