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  • digger
    digger
    noun
    a person or an animal that digs.
  • Digger
    Digger
    noun
    (sometimes not capital)
Synonyms

digger

American  
[dig-er] / ˈdɪg ər /

noun

  • diggers
    plural
  1. a person or an animal that digs.

  2. a tool, part of a machine, etc., for digging.

  3. Also called Digger Indian. (initial capital letter) a member of any of several Indian peoples of western North America, especially of a tribe that dug roots for food.

  4. an Australian or New Zealand soldier of World War I.

  5. (initial capital letter) a member of a group that advocated the abolition of private property and began in 1649 to cultivate certain common lands.

  6. Slang. a person hired by a scalper to buy tickets to a show or performance for resale by the scalper at inflated prices.


Digger 1 British  
/ ˈdɪɡə /

noun

  1. archaic (sometimes not capital)

    1. an Australian or New Zealander, esp a soldier: often used as a term of address

    2. ( as modifier )

      a Digger accent

  2. one of a number of tribes of America whose diet was largely composed of roots dug out of the ground

"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

digger 2 British  
/ ˈdɪɡə /

noun

  1. a person, animal, or machine that digs

  2. a miner, esp one who digs for gold

  3. a tool or part of a machine used for excavation, esp a mechanical digger fitted with a head for digging trenches

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of digger

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at dig 1, -er 1


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:

Suvorova writes about girls in school accusing her mother of being a gold digger, intentionally choosing rich boyfriends that would eventually become rich husbands while they lived in poverty and couch surfed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

Repairs start with a digger light enough not to cause fresh damage, which pulls the bare peat back to a gentler slope and folds the vegetation over it.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Nesbitt, who grew up near Rochester, N.Y., worked as a grave digger in high school.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

An AFP journalist in Nangarhar's Bihsud district said residents from around the remote and mountainous area joined rescuers in one village, using a digger and shovels to search for bodies under the rubble.

From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026

Instead, I was just the lone digger of a fake atomic bomb shelter.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos

That makes "Digger" something of a mismatch, said Loria.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Digger is directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, best known for films such as Birdman, Babel and The Revenant.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

As Digger and the president peer out a window, a light flickers.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

And if Cruise wins his much-coveted Oscar for his role as Digger, that is also a plus, Galloway said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

“No—I guess he won’t,” I agreed, realizing at the same time that Digger would miss the ceremony this afternoon, the one where we graduated from middle school.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

But nowadays, the formerly sleepy streets are awash with diggers, orange construction cones and out-of-state license plates.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

The farmer admitted using bulldozers and diggers to remove gravel from a mile-long stretch of the river by his farm in 2020 and 2021.

From BBC ● May 26, 2026

If no more survivors are found after a search with thermal scanners, mechanical diggers and other heavy equipment will be brought in to clear debris and recover bodies, she said, but gave no timeline.

From Barron's ● May 25, 2026

KHARTOUM, Sudan — The diggers were efficient, cramming in so many graves that, from above, the field near the University of Sudan’s medical campus looked like a frieze of an undulating, gravel-brown sea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

As the diggers reached three feet, a rush of frigid underground water flooded the hole, stopping the search for the peddler’s bones.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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