badger

[ baj-er ]

noun

1. any of various burrowing, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, as Taxidea taxus, of North America, and Meles meles, of Europe and Asia.
2. the fur of this mammal.
3. Australian.
   1. a wombat.
   2. bandicoot ( def 2 ).
4. (initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Wisconsin the Badger State (used as a nickname).
5. a swablike device for cleaning excess mortar from the interiors of newly laid tile drains.

verb (used with object)

1. to harass or urge persistently; pester; nag:

   I had to badger him into coming with us.

   Synonyms: bait, disturb, worry, plague, bedevil, vex

badger

/ ˈbædʒə /

noun

1. See hog badger, ferret badger
   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
2. See ratel
   honey badger
   honey badger another name for ratel

verb

1. tr to pester or harass

Other Words From

• un·badgered adjective
• un·badger·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of badger¹

1515–25; variant of badgeard, perhaps badge + -ard, in allusion to white mark or badge on head

Word History and Origins

Origin of badger¹

C16: variant of badgeard , probably from badge (from the white mark on its forehead) + -ard

Example Sentences

From a 2009 study by colleagues, she knew that the trees depend on small mammals like foxes and badgers to spread their seeds.

From Popular-Science

Although Little Badger was raised in several places around the world, moving because of her father’s job, she considers Texas to be home.

From Time

As with Ghostery, a click on the Privacy Badger icon reveals the trackers on a site, together with the option to block them.

From Popular-Science

Lynette Clark, a leader of the Alaskan Independence Party, said that she was encouraged by the news of out of the Badger State.

From The Daily Beast

The video starts with a close up of Avril, who chants a couple of Japanese phrases with wide, black-lined badger eyes.

From The Daily Beast

For Badger-backers, pure dread began to well in their collective stomachs.

From The Daily Beast

But I liked what they did with Elliott and Gretchen, the lasers with Badger and Skinny Pete.

From The Daily Beast

The Wisconsin Badgers are piloted by Buckingham U. Badger, who goes by Bucky.

From The Daily Beast

Marcus and Farringdon's pure badger, two shillings—gilt-edged badger half-a-crown.

From Project Gutenberg

You get some ladies together and badger them into all sorts of thoughtless, unmeant admissions and call that testimony!

From Project Gutenberg

Festing braced himself in a vain attempt to hold them, for the trail was half covered with tall grass and broken by badger holes.

From Project Gutenberg

I gave Gibson the big ambling horse, ‘Badger,’ and we packed the big cob with a pair of water-bags that contained twenty gallons.

From Project Gutenberg

Gibson was now very sorry he had exchanged ‘Badger’ for the cob, as he found the latter very dull and heavy to get along.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoy
• bully
• goad
• harass
• heckle
• hound
• pester
• tease
• torment