Dug up something from the ground, or discovered something hidden or secret.
From Old English 'un-' (reversing an action) plus 'eartian' meaning 'to bury in earth.' The metaphorical meaning (to discover) emerged around the 17th century.
Archaeologists unearthed Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old skeleton, which literally changed our understanding of human evolution—one dig literally rewrote our family history!
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