Learn Arabic › B2 › حَفْر
حَفْر
digging /ˈħafr/
nounB2#4016 most common
Also: excavation, drilling, boring (of a hole)
Example sentences
هُوَ يُحِبُّ الحَفْرَ فِي الرَّمْلِ.
He likes digging in the sand.
بَدَأَ العُمَّالُ الحَفْرَ فِي الصَّبَاحِ.
The workers began digging in the morning.
يَحْتَاجُ حَفْرُ البِئْرِ إِلَى آلَاتٍ خَاصَّةٍ.
Digging the well requires special machines.
تَسَبَّبَ الحَفْرُ العَمِيقُ فِي تَصَدُّعِ الجِدَارِ المُجَاوِرِ.
The deep digging caused the neighboring wall to crack.
أَدَّى حَفْرُ الأَنْفَاقِ تَحْتَ المَدِينَةِ إِلَى اكْتِشَافِ آثَارٍ قَدِيمَةٍ.
Digging the tunnels beneath the city led to the discovery of ancient artifacts.
لَا يَزَالُ الجَدَلُ قَائِمًا حَوْلَ الآثَارِ البِيئِيَّةِ المُتَرَتِّبَةِ عَلَى حَفْرِ آبَارِ النَّفْطِ فِي المِنْطَقَةِ.
Debate continues over the environmental effects of drilling oil wells in the region.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | حَفْرٌ | حُفُورٌ |
| Genitive | حَفْرٍ | حُفُورٍ |
| Accusative | حَفْرًا | حُفُورًا |
| Vocative | يَا حَفْرُ | يَا حُفُورُ |
Word family
حَفَرَto dig, excavate
حَفَّارdigger, excavator (person or machine)
حُفْرَةhole, pitحَافِرhoof
مَحْفُورdug, excavated
Etymology
حَفْر is the verbal noun of the Form I verb حَفَرَ, built on the triliteral root ح ف ر, which carries the core sense of digging into the ground. The root appears across the Semitic family with the same meaning, not just in Arabic. It shows up in everyday building and farming contexts as well as in modern industries like oil drilling and archaeology.
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