booger

American  

[boog-er] / ˈbʊg ər /

noun

1. Informal. any person or thing.

   That shark was a mean-looking booger. Paddle the little booger and send him home.

2. Slang. a piece of dried mucus in or from the nose.

3. bogeyman.

4. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. any ghost, hobgoblin, or other frightening apparition.

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Etymology

Origin of booger

1865–70; perhaps variant of British dialect boggard goblin, bogy; in senses of booger defs. 1, 2 conflated with bugger ¹

Example Sentences

You know when the booger bear’s in the dark, then you turn the light on and he’s not there anymore?

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2023

“It’s worse than the grossest booger you’ve ever seen,” Dr. Choy said.

From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2022

A boy puts his hand on another kid’s booger and sees boys sitting on toilets at school.

From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2021

"In the studio, all together, sweaty, smelly, dusty, picking a booger, whatever, singing when it was my turn, that sort of thing for six, eight weeks. That's gruelling."

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2019

The instant I showed my face, you’d have thought a booger man had shown up.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls