badger
Americannoun
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badgers
plural
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any of various burrowing, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, as Taxidea taxus, of North America, and Meles meles, of Europe and Asia.
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the fur of this mammal.
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Australian.
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a wombat.
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(initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Wisconsin the Badger State (used as a nickname).
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a swablike device for cleaning excess mortar from the interiors of newly laid tile drains.
verb (used with object)
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badgers,
present (3rd person singular)
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badgered,
past participle, past
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badgering
present participle
noun
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any of various stocky omnivorous musteline mammals of the subfamily Melinae , such as Meles meles ( Eurasian badger ), occurring in Europe, Asia, and North America: order Carnivora (carnivores). They are typically large burrowing animals, with strong claws and a thick coat striped black and white on the head Compare ferret badger hog badger
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another name for ratel
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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badgersimple
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badgerssimple
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have badgeredperfect
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has badgeredperfect
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am badgeringprogressive
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are badgeringprogressive
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is badgeringprogressive
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have been badgeringperfect progressive
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has been badgeringperfect progressive
Past
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badgeredsimple
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had badgeredperfect
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was badgeringprogressive
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were badgeringprogressive
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had been badgeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of badger
1515–25; variant of badgeard, perhaps badge + -ard, in allusion to white mark or badge on head
Explanation
Badger is to bother. Persistently. On and on. Without stop. Relentlessly. Over and over. Endlessly. It comes from the name of that chipmunk-like animal that burrows into the ground. If you badger someone, you get under their skin. A badger is an animal that digs tunnels under ground to keep warm. To badger can also mean to persuade someone through constant annoying efforts. You might badger your mom to add another hour to your curfew or badger your friend to give you a turn with a video game he has been hogging.
Vocabulary lists containing badger
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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The Cay
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"By combining non-invasive genetic monitoring with sett surveys, camera traps and movement data, we can estimate local badger numbers, check the proportion of the population reached and identify significant gaps," he added.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
"You can definitely see badger activity and we know that they are carriers, badger numbers should be monitored and see how that the effects of that in the spread."
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Tejon means “badger” in Spanish, and all it took was some Spaniard on an 1806 expedition happening upon a dead badger there for the name to stick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
"He deserves better than being replaced by a badger," he said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
“Sleep, play, dig, aggravate my uncle. Normal badger stuff.”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The lakes region Mr. Hoffman describes as “magnetic and mercurial” is home to bears, wolves, badgers, otters and a surprising variety of other creatures, yet their ways of life are being threatened.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The land abutting the Pinto Mountains Wilderness is also home to badgers, bighorn sheep and Mojave fringe-toed lizards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
Possibilities, subject to a public consultation, include badgers and otters as well as frogs, hedgehogs, barn owls and newts.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
The cameras have captured badgers, foxes and hedgehogs as well as the nesting swifts.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025
“Oh that, I’ve got a cheddar cheese that four badgers couldn’t roll, plus ten other varieties.”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
He asked blistering public questions of city and state leaders, badgered Washington to investigate the fire, and joined other displaced residents in filing a lawsuit for “inverse condemnation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Later headlines would say that Solanas believed Warhol “controlled her life” and that he had “legal claim” over her self-published writing, which she frequently badgered him to read.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
For months, Meta’s algorithm badgered me to buy a little piece of plastic mounted on a magnet.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025
Nigel Roebuck, who has led Aslef's negotiations with LNER, said members had complained about being consistently "badgered for favours" by managers "outside of rostering agreements and being contacted remotely".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2024
The following morning, the Plain Dealer would publish a story mentioning Ed Lim’s “aggressive” tactics, how he had badgered poor Mrs. McCullough to the point of tears.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Costco raised its fees in 2024 — the first such increase in seven years — after months of badgering from Wall Street.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
Those of ancient lineage may be thinking of the infamous LBJ phone call badgering the head of ABC to get college-football broadcasts for Lady Bird’s TV station.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
“The jury sees this, and it ends up risking looking like you’re just badgering this woman,” Haberman said.
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
Mr Staunton also claimed Mr Read had tried to resign four times during his time as chair of the Post Office, between December 2022 and January 2024, and had been "badgering over his salary".
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2024
This badgering soul who’d thrown his entire existence into upheaval?
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
