ditchdigger

[ dich-dig-er ]

/ ˈdɪtʃˌdɪg ər /

noun

a worker whose occupation is digging ditches, especially with pick and shovel.

a person engaged in exhausting manual work, especially work that requires little or no originality.

Also called ditcher, trencher. a power excavating machine designed to remove earth in a continuous line and to a predetermined width and depth, as by means of a rotating belt equipped with scoops.

Nearby words

dit, dita, ditat deus, ditch, ditch-moss, ditchdigger, ditcher, ditchwater, dite, diterpene, ditheism

Origin of ditchdigger

First recorded in 1895–1900; ditch + digger

Related formsditch·dig·ging, noun, adjective

Examples from the Web for ditch-digger

A ditch-digger, looking at the question short-sightedly, may deem "a good drunk" a very desirable form of enjoyment.
The Principles of Economics|Frank A. Fetter
The breakfast came and Craig ate like a ditch-digger—his own breakfast and most of Grant's.
The Fashionable Adventures of Joshua Craig|David Graham Phillips
A little nephew of ours said he wanted to be a ditch-digger.
Analyzing Character|Katherine M. H. Blackford and Arthur Newcomb
And a ditch-digger, a good ditch-digger, ought to be respected—until he thinks he's the whole works.
Sonnie-Boy's People|James B. Connolly

He is no longer a ditch-digger and a ploughman, but the proud master of councils or the cultured professor of the university.
A Short History of Monks and Monasteries|Alfred Wesley Wishart