dug-out, n.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

dug-out n.²

[the image of digging a hole, either in one’s arm or in a pile of food]

1. (US drugs) the lowest class of addict.

1936		D. Maurer ‘Argot of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 1 in AS XI:2 121/1: dugout. An addict who has reached the bottom; one who is [...] ‘lame, lazy, and crazy’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.

2. (US prison) a voracious eater.

1931–4		D. Clemmer Prison Community (1940) 331/2: dug out, n. A big eater of institution food.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 797: dugout – A heavy eater.
1971–2		C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 203: dug-out, n. – a very heavy eater.