idiom · neutral
dig oneself out of a hole
UK/dɪg wʌnˈsɛlf aʊt əv ə həʊl/US/dɪg wʌnˈsɛlf aʊt əv ə hoʊl/DIG·oneself·OUT·of·a·HOLE
to recover from financial trouble or a difficult situation by effort and time
Examples
“After months of overtime and budgeting, he finally dug himself out of a hole.”
“The firm is trying to dig itself out of a hole after a bad quarter.”
“It takes discipline to dig yourself out of a hole of personal debt.”
Band 8 sentence
“After two bad seasons they managed to dig themselves out of a hole through tight budgeting and new contracts.”
Collocations
- dig oneself out of debt
- dig oneself out of a difficult situation
Word family
Common mistakes
I tried to dig myself out the hole.→I tried to dig myself out of the hole.
He dug himself out with time.→He dug himself out of the hole over time.
Say it for a higher band
5get out of debt→6get back on one's feet→7+dig oneself out of a hole
Synonyms
get back on one's feet
Easily confused
climb out of a hole
“After years of saving, she managed to climb out of a hole.”
Related words
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In Hardship
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