A dugout or dug-out, also known as a pithouse, pit-house, earth lodge, mud hut, is a shelter for humans or domesticated animals and livestock based on a hole or depression dug into the ground. These structures are one of the most ancient types of human housing known to archeologists. Dugouts can be fully recessed into the earth, with a flat roof covered by ground, or dug into a hillside. They can also be semi-recessed, with a constructed wood or sod roof standing out. The same methods have evolved into modern "earth shelter" technology.

Dugouts may also be temporary shelters constructed as an aid to specific activities, e.g., during warfare or in hunting.

First driven underground by enemies who invaded their country, the Berbers of Matmâta found underground homes the best defense against summer heat.

Coober Pedy is a small town in northern South Australia, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. Located in the Australian outback, the harsh summer temperatures and the dominant industry mean that most residents live in caves excavated into the hillsides and work underground in mine shafts. White Cliffs, New South Wales is similar, both in terms of climate and mining operations.