Quick links
dugout
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
1n.
a canoe hewn from a single log
See: dugout canoe
Quotations
1840
We have travelled by rail-road, stage, steam-boat, schooner and dug out.
1966
Dugouts were sometimes used, made from a hollow tree if possible, to avoid the work of burning and chopping out the wood.
2n.
a shelter made by excavating, usually in the side of a hill, often serving as a temporary dwelling.
Quotations
1888
All the people here, who have poultry, find the necessity of keeping them very warm, and either make them "dug-outs" or else comfortable wooden houses.
1958
In some cases the first "house" was a "dug-out." This was a cave that was dug in a low hillside. The front was built up of stones and sod.
3n. — Prairies
a large shallow excavation intended to hold the spring run-off and rain, serving as a reservoir.
Quotations
1947
If there are streams they can be dammed, if not then the pioneer has to rely on "dug-outs" cut in clay soil, in which he can collect surface water or winter snow.
1953
The water-filled dugouts on thousands of Saskatchewan farms bear its imprint.
1964
[She] . . . drowned Saturday in a dugout on a farm near this [Alberta] community. . . .