掘

The forceful removal of material to create a void or retrieve something buried. This includes:

1. Excavation for construction (e.g., wells, ditches, moats, cellars, or caves).

2. Recovery or exhumation of objects, roots, or bodies.

3. Mining and the extraction of minerals or ore.

Primarily a transitive verb. The object is typically either the material being removed (e.g., earth) or the intended result/target (e.g., a well). In intransitive instances, the object is generally implied by context.

Associated primarily with soil or semi-solid materials that can be scooped or displaced. It should be distinguished from 鑿, which implies piercing, boring, or chiseling into hard materials such as rock or wood. When 掘 appears in a context involving stone, it suggests the general process of excavation rather than the specific mechanical act of chiseling.

Maintain a strict sense of physicality; avoid projecting later metaphorical meanings (e.g., "digging for information" or "probing a secret") onto early passages. If a reading appears metaphorical, first investigate if a literal interpretation involving the removal of layers is possible.