彼らは穴をあけて石油を掘り当てようとした。

they (usually male); them

topic marker particle; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis

hole; deficit; shortage; missing person (in a team, meeting, etc.); vacancy; opening; flaw; profitable place (or item, etc.) not well known by others; upset victory (with a large payoff); pit (of a theater); hiding place; underbelly (of society, etc.)

indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.

to raise; to elevate; to do up (one's hair); to fly (a kite, etc.); to launch (fireworks, etc.); to surface (a submarine, etc.); to land (a boat); to deep-fry; to show someone (into a room); to summon (for geishas, etc.); to send someone (away); to enrol (one's child in school); to enroll; to increase (price, quality, status, etc.); to develop (talent, skill); to improve; to make (a loud sound); to raise (one's voice); to earn (something desirable); to praise; to give (an example, etc.); to cite; to summon up (all of one's energy, etc.); to arrest; to nominate; to give; to offer up (incense, a prayer, etc.) to the gods (or Buddha, etc.); to bear (a child); to conduct (a ceremony, esp. a wedding); (of the tide) to come in; to vomit; to do for (the sake of someone else); to complete ...; to humbly do ...

oil; petroleum; kerosene

to dig; to excavate; to hollow; to delve into; to dig up (e.g. vegetables); (for two men) to have anal sex

to hit; to expose; to apply (e.g. patch); to put on; to put against; to hold on; to hold against; to allot; to call on someone (e.g. in class); to guess (an answer); to make a hit (e.g. in a lottery)

if; when; and; with; particle used for quoting (with speech, thoughts, etc.); quoting particle; promoted pawn; indicates question (sentence end)

to do; to cause to become; to make (into); to turn (into); to serve as; to act as; to work as; to wear (clothes, a facial expression, etc.); to judge as being; to view as being; to think of as; to treat as; to use as; to decide on; to choose; to be sensed (of a smell, noise, etc.); to be (in a state, condition, etc.); to be worth; to cost; to pass (of time); to elapse; verbalizing suffix (applies to nouns noted in this dictionary with the part of speech "vs"); creates a humble verb (after a noun prefixed with "o" or "go"); to be just about to; to be just starting to; to try to; to attempt to