dig

A poke, punch; and metaphorically, a reproof.

A sly dig like the above in "The Sun" [newspaper] is worth having any day, when it is a dig on the right side.--N. Y. Tribune.

Dig
·add. ·noun = Gouge. II. Dig ·add. ·noun An act of digging. III. Dig ·add. ·noun A tool for diggin...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
dig
a mattock. In Yorkshire they distinguish between digging and graving ; to dig is with a mattock, to ...

A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose