挖(wā) - to dig, to dig out, to scoop out in Mandarin

挖 (wā) is to dig: earth, a hole, a tunnel, or a spoonful of something out of a jar. The hand radical on the left tells you it started as something you do with your hands or a tool held in them.

It almost always wants a result attached. 挖洞 digs a hole, 挖出来 digs something out, 挖到 means you dug and found. A bare 挖 with no object or complement sounds unfinished in the way English "he dug" alone does.

The figurative use is worth knowing because it is everywhere in business talk. 挖人 or 挖角 means to poach staff from a rival, and 挖苦 (wā kǔ) is to mock someone sarcastically. Note too that the plain syllable wā more often writes 哇, the exclamation, so listen for the object that follows.