badger
Americannoun
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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)
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:
"He deserves better than being replaced by a badger," he said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
The Government last month said it will not be extending the badger cull and retains its commitment to end the practice before the next election.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025
Ian called badger culling "a national disgrace" and said: "I would swap this award immediately for the government to rescind all existing badger culling licenses."
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2025
A bloodied but determined honey badger pursues a Cape porcupine in Botswana.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2025
After a few minutes of foraging, snapping, and binding, the fox and the badger stood back to survey their work.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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
“We’ve planted 20,000 trees around the site, we’ve replaced habitats and homes for protected species like bats, newts and badgers and created wildflower meadows specifically for wildlife foraging,” the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Earthworms, which feed badgers and hedgehogs, are living inside rock hard and dry soil, meaning the animals could struggle to dig to find them and may have to travel further for food.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025
Orloff said Ojeda often badgers him about entering games on days that are supposed to be off days.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2025
Fu Inlé, Prince Rainbow returned with the elil—two badgers, two foxes, two stoats, an owl and a cat.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
His interest grew when he discovered that the cave, known as Wogan Cavern, showed little signs of previous excavation - so he "badgered" Dr Rob Dinnis, from the University of Aberdeen, to take a look.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Because that’s what gets done to the biggest guys—they are badgered, bullied, and banged around, with the hope the referees ignore a lot of the contact, because the big guy just is too big.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 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
By the time she stalked out of Dona Luz headquarters two hours later, having been badgered unmercifully and then vindicated at least partially by rent-a-car records in the capital, Abby was fuming.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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
After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from table top snooker with aplomb.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2026
Her Bertha is the kindly, nurturing counterweight to Seth’s badgering boisterousness, a quality Morris infuses with just enough avuncular affection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2025
And then there are the bit players they run into throughout who, in Mr. Panahi’s acidic vision of a desperate society, tend to end interactions by badgering for a tip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
That is what my sass was doing to me, worrying and badgering me with her never-ending orders and scoldings.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
