dugout

plural dugouts · alternative dug-out

1. An object or person.nauticalA canoe made from a hollowed-out log.

   1 more example

   Kurtz had apparently intended to return himself, the station being by that time bare of goods and stores, but after coming three hundred miles, had suddenly decided to go back, which he started to do alone in a small dug-out with four paddlers, leaving the half-caste to continue down the river with the ivory.

   1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part II, pages 479–480

   Synonyms: dugout canoe, logboat, periagua

2. historicalslangAn object or person.Someone with old-fashioned or outdated ideas, an old fogey; especially, an elderly soldier brought in for temporary service.

   Directly war comes, therefore, there is a shift all round, and a new untried man—usually a dug-out in an advanced state of decay—is stuck into the job.

   1916, HG Wells, Mr Britling Sees it Through, London: Hogarth Press, published 1985, page 232

   1 more example

   The Dugouts struggled with commendable valour to meet the responsibilities thrust upon them, but too often they were untrained and unfamiliar with their work.

   1989, Michael Occleshaw, Armour Against Fate, Columbus Books, page 26

3. slangAn object or person.A small portable case for equipment used to smoke marijuana.
4. Canadian PrairiesAn object or person.A pit used to catch and store rainwater or runoff.
5. A shelter.A rough dwelling consisting of an excavation in the ground, typically roofed with turf or basic sheeting.
6. A shelter.governmentHence, a shelter used in trench warfare, used for simple accommodation out of enemy fire.

   The key unit of life here is the dugout – what the soldiers call a ‘blindage’ – an underground burrow where half a dozen men share the narrow space between the bunks with weapons, ammunition, biscuits, tea bags, and a jumble of other essentials (there is also usually a cat, not to mention the mice).

   2017 January 14, Roland Oliphant, “Special report: Loose cannons at the frontline of Ukraine's forgotten war”, in The Telegraph

7. A shelter.hobbiesA sunken shelter at the side of a sports field where non-playing team members and staff can sit during a game.

   Redknapp is expected to be back in the dugout when Spurs play Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday but it was left to his assistant Kevin Bond to take a young team to Russia looking for the win that would put them through to the last 32.

   2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport