Digger

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /ˈdɪɡɚ/
• RP IPA: /ˈdɪɡə/
• Rhymes: -ɪɡə(r)

Origin

Derived from dig.

• (Australian soldier) Attributed to the considerable time that soldiers spent digging trenches during World War I.

Full definition of digger

Noun

1. A large piece of machinery that digs holes or trenches; an excavator.
2. A tool for digging.
• 2009, Sharon Bomgaars, The Best Clubhouse Ever, %22diggers%22+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Xrg8T4miN4fcmAXR6YW0Bw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 143,The post hole digger did look ancient. I was pretty certain myself that it hadn′t dug any holes for a long, long time.
3. A spade (playing card).
4. One who digs.
• 1997, Barbara J. Wrede, Civilizing Your Puppy, %22diggers%22+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Xrg8T4miN4fcmAXR6YW0Bw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 75,You′ve tried the supposedly sure method of squirting the digger with water from a hose, and that hasn′t worked....This step will discourage 99 percent of the diggers.
• 2005, Gary R. Sampson, Dick Wolfsie, Dog Dilemmas: Simple Solutions to Everyday Problems, %22diggers%22+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HLw8T6fqAYrEmQWFy7XZBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 130,Most retrievers are not inveterate diggers — that′s a trait usually reserved for other breeds like wire-haired terriers and schnauzers.
5. (Australia, obsolete) A gold miner, one who digs for gold.
• 1853, Charles Dickens (editor), Household Words, Volume 21, %22diggers%22+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HLw8T6fqAYrEmQWFy7XZBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 64,A successful Australian digger — successful, not merely in siftings and washings, but bearing the title, and its best credentials, of a “nuggetter” − came down from Forest Creek recently and took up his abode in a low lodging-house in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne.
6. (Australia, dated) An informal nickname for a friend; used as a term of endearment.
7. (Australia) An Australian or New Zealand soldier.
• 1998, Helen Gilbert, Sightlines: Race, Gender, and Nation in Contemporary Australian Theatre, %22diggers%22+soldier+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VtU8T6ykG5HumAWknpjGBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20soldier%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 191,Costume played a key part in his differentiation from British soldiers as the Digger uniform came to embody Australian versions of masculinity and mateship.
• 2002, Jeff Doyle, Jeffrey Grey, Peter Pierce, Australia's Vietnam War, %22diggers%22+soldier+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VtU8T6ykG5HumAWknpjGBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20soldier%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page xxiii,For many, the congruencies of the Anzac legend and the diggers who served in Vietnam were slight, too slight, and the legend seemed unable to accommodate them.
• 2004, Lisanne Gibson, Joanna Besley, Monumental Queensland: Signposts on a Cultural Landscape, %22diggers%22+soldier+-intitle:%22digger|diggers%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B8U8T4LmMarPmAXoofS5Bw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22digger%22|%22diggers%22%20soldier%20-intitle%3A%22digger|diggers%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 99,Like many other Queensland communities, the workers from the North Ipswich Railway Workshops chose a statue of a soldier, or digger, to honour their fellow workers.

Anagrams

• rigged