to dig out of a hole
- phrasal verb
:
salir de un aprieto
- Every time she makes a mistake, she somehow manages to dig out of a hole and improve her situation.
Examples
-
After losing his job, Tom managed to dig out of a hole by starting his own business.
-
It took months of hard work to dig out of a hole financially after the unexpected expenses.
-
Don't worry, you can dig out of a hole!
-
She is trying to dig out of a hole after her last investment failed.
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After overspending last year, she worked extra hours to dig out of a hole and fix her finances.
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Following the scandal, the company implemented new strategies to dig out of a hole and regain its reputation.
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He faced many challenges in his career, but he managed to dig out of a hole and achieve his goals.
Synonyms
3
5.8
To free a person or thing from a difficult situation
Antonyms
How Recovered
241
3.2
60
3.5
748
2.5
272
2.9
121
3.1
466
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase maps a clear physical image (digging oneself out of a literal hole) onto a figurative situation of escaping difficulty; the connection between 'dig' (effort) + 'out' + 'hole' (a problem-like space) is understandable but relies on a metaphorical extension. A B1 learner who knows the words and sees contextual cues will often infer the recovery meaning, but the figurative use is not purely compositional or guaranteed without context, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Dig out of a hole comes from a simple image: a person trapped in a deep hole who must dig to climb out. So it now means 'to recover' or 'escape from a difficult situation'.