jigger

1
[ jig-er ]
See synonyms for: jiggerjiggeredjiggering on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a person or thing that jigs.

  2. Nautical.

  1. any of various mechanical devices, many of which have a jerky or jolting motion.

  2. Informal. some contrivance, article, or part that one cannot or does not name more precisely: What is that little jigger on the pistol?

  3. Ceramics. a machine for forming plates or the like in a plaster mold rotating beneath a template.

  4. Mining. a jig for separating ore.

  5. a jig for fishing.

  6. Golf. a club with an iron head intermediate between a mashie and a midiron, now rarely used.

  7. Billiards, Pool. a bridge.

    • a 1½-oz. (45-milliliter) measure used in cocktail recipes.

    • a small whiskey glass holding 1½ ounces (45 milliliters).

Origin of jigger

1
First recorded in 1665–75; of unknown origin; perhaps from jig1 or jig2 + -er1

Words Nearby jigger

Other definitions for jigger (2 of 3)

jigger2
[ jig-er ]

noun
  1. Also called jigger flea . chigoe.

  2. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. chigger.

Origin of jigger

2
First recorded in 1750–60; variant of chigger

Other definitions for jigger (3 of 3)

jigger3
[ jig-er ]

verb (used with object)
  1. to interfere with.

  2. to manipulate or alter, especially in order to get something done illegally or unethically: to jigger company records to conceal a loss.

Origin of jigger

3
First recorded in 1865–70; jig2 + -er6

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jigger in a sentence

  • Here a sort of jigger-tackle held them in a bunch bound fast to a single cable, capable of being directed by one arm.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo
  • Turpin treated him as he had done the dub at the knapping jigger, and cleared the driver and his little wain with ease.

    Rookwood | William Harrison Ainsworth
  • Something tells me that my tongue is doomed to wag forever to the jigger of that remorseless jingle.

    Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • If he pulled the mid-iron from his bag the jigger would be placed in nomination.

    Fore! | Charles Emmett Van Loan
  • He said he felt pains in his interior, and drank a jigger of whisky.

    The Book of the Bush | George Dunderdale

British Dictionary definitions for jigger (1 of 2)

jigger1

/ (ˈdʒɪɡə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that jigs

  2. golf an iron, now obsolete, with a thin blade, used for hitting long shots from a bare lie

  1. any of a number of mechanical devices having a vibratory or jerking motion

  2. a light lifting tackle used on ships

  3. a small glass, esp for whisky, with a capacity of about one and a half ounces

  4. NZ a light hand- or power-propelled vehicle used on railway lines

  5. engineering a type of hydraulic lift in which a hydraulic ram operates the lift through a block and tackle which increases the length of the stroke

  6. Canadian a device used when setting a gill net beneath ice

  7. mining another word for jig (def. 5)

  8. nautical short for jiggermast

  9. billiards another word for bridge 1 (def. 10)

  10. US and Canadian informal a device or thing the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten

  11. Liverpool dialect an alleyway

British Dictionary definitions for jigger (2 of 2)

jigger2

jigger flea

/ (ˈdʒɪɡə) /


noun
  1. other names for the chigoe (def. 1)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012