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auger

[ aw-ger ]
/ ˈɔ gər /
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noun
Carpentry.
  1. a bit, as for a brace.
  2. a boring tool, similar to but larger than a gimlet, consisting of a bit rotated by a transverse handle.
a device consisting of a shaft with a broad helical flange rotating within a cylindrical casing to force bulk materials from one end to the other.
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Origin of auger

before 900; Middle English nauger (a nauger misdivided as an auger; cf. adder1, apron), Old English nafogār nave-piercer (cognate with Old Norse nafarr, Old Saxon nabugēr, Middle Dutch navegeer, Old High German nabagēr ), equivalent to nafa nave + gār spear; cf. gore3, garlic

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH auger

auger , augur
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use auger in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for auger

auger
/ (ˈɔːɡə) /

noun
a hand tool with a bit shaped like a corkscrew, for boring holes in wood
a larger tool of the same kind for boring holes in the ground

Word Origin for auger

C15 an augur, resulting from mistaken division of earlier a nauger, from Old English nafugār nave (of a wheel) spear (that is, tool for boring hubs of wheels), from nafu nave ² + gār spear; see gore ²
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
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