digger

[dig-er]

noun

1. a person or an animal that digs.

2. a tool, part of a machine, etc., for digging.

3. Also called Digger Indian. (initial capital letter),  a member of any of several Indian peoples of western North America, especially of a tribe that dug roots for food.

4. an Australian or New Zealand soldier of World War I.

5. (initial capital letter),  a member of a group that advocated the abolition of private property and began in 1649 to cultivate certain common lands.

6. Slang.,  a person hired by a scalper to buy tickets to a show or performance for resale by the scalper at inflated prices.

Digger

¹

/ ˈdɪɡə /

noun

1. archaic,  (sometimes not capital)

   1. an Australian or New Zealander, esp a soldier: often used as a term of address

   2. ( as modifier )

      a Digger accent

2. one of a number of tribes of America whose diet was largely composed of roots dug out of the ground

digger

²

/ ˈdɪɡə /

noun

1. a person, animal, or machine that digs

2. a miner, esp one who digs for gold

3. a tool or part of a machine used for excavation, esp a mechanical digger fitted with a head for digging trenches

Word History and Origins

Origin of digger¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; dig ¹, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Serious diggers may want to arrive on the earlier side to secure rare finds.

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"We've been doing up the house anyway, so I hired a digger and, with the help of a mate, we started digging up the driveway to see what was there," he said.

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It's being released digitally and on vinyl - for all you crate diggers - as part of her Silver Collection of ongoing career-spanning special releases.

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One digger and hundreds of temporary metal fences were brought to the playground at the housing estate where the home once stood.

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Now, investigators have moved their diggers onto the nondescript patch of grass next to a children's playground on a housing estate in the town.

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