The kanji 掘掘 primarily means "to dig," "to excavate," or "to unearth." It implies the action of removing earth or other material to create a hole or reveal something buried. This action can be performed to create something like a tunnel or a well or to find something of value.

・On-yomi (音読み): クツ (kutsu) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): ほ掘る (ho掘ru)

⚫︎ 掘掘り出す (hori dasu) Translation: To dig out; to excavate. ⚫︎ 発掘掘 (hakkutsu) Translation: Excavation; discovery (of archeological remains, etc.). ⚫︎ 穴を掘掘る (ana o ho掘ru) Translation: To dig a hole.

The kanji 掘掘 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, keisei moji). The semantic component (部首, bushu) is the radical 扌 (てへん, tehen), meaning "hand." This indicates the action of digging, which is something done with hands or tools. The phonetic component is 屈 (kutsu), which contributes to the sound of the kanji. The combination of the radical and phonetic component gives the meaning "to dig" or "to excavate".