jigger

[jig-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jigger ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that jigs.

Nautical.

the lowermost sail set on a jiggermast.
jiggermast.
a light tackle, as a gun tackle.

any of various mechanical devices, many of which have a jerky or jolting motion.

Informal. some contrivance, article, or part that one cannot or does not name more precisely: What is that little jigger on the pistol?

Ceramics. a machine for forming plates or the like in a plaster mold rotating beneath a template.

Mining. a jig for separating ore.

a jig for fishing.

Golf. a club with an iron head intermediate between a mashie and a midiron, now rarely used.

Billiards, Pool. a bridge.

a 1½-oz. (45-ml) measure used in cocktail recipes.
a small whiskey glass holding 1½ ounces (45 ml).

Origin of jigger

First recorded in 1665–75; jig¹ + -er¹

jigger

[jig-er]

noun

Also called jigger flea. chigoe.

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. chigger.

Origin of jigger

First recorded in 1750–60; variant of chigger

jigger

[jig-er]

verb (used with object)

to interfere with.

to manipulate or alter, especially in order to get something done illegally or unethically: to jigger company records to conceal a loss.

Origin of jigger

1865–70; jig² (in verbal sense) + -er⁶

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for jigger

contraption, widget, business, apparatus, utensil, tool, object, appliance, doodad, thing, invention, contrivance, thingamajig, gimmick, concern, doohickey, gizmo, whatchamacallit, sip, shot

Examples from the Web for jigger

Contemporary Examples of jigger

Serve it as is from the pot for kids; add a jigger of rum, brandy, or Calvados for the grownups.
The Perfect Holiday Cocktail
Cookstr.com
December 15, 2009
I mean, if I was trying to jigger into—well, I guess this is my house now, so [ laughter] it probably wouldn't happen.
Obama's Insecure Slip
Tina Brown
July 27, 2009
“I mean, if I was trying to jigger into—well, I guess this is my house now, so it probably wouldn't happen,” he explained.
Obama's New Enemies
Richard Wolffe
July 23, 2009

Historical Examples of jigger

The jigger had been made and bent, and a suitable mast was stepped by means of the roof.
Homeward Bound
James Fenimore Cooper
While examining her with our glasses, a sail was set on her jigger mast.
The 'Fan Kwae' at Canton Before Treaty Days 1825-1844
William C. Hunter
Jigger, a secret still for the manufacture of illicit spirits.
The Slang Dictionary
John Camden Hotten
It had a close resemblance to the jigger of yawl-rigged yachts.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 7
Various
Overhaul a buntline a little, bend the jigger to it, and trice up on deck.
The Seaman's Friend
Richard Henry Dana

British Dictionary definitions for jigger

jigger

noun

a person or thing that jigs

golf an iron, now obsolete, with a thin blade, used for hitting long shots from a bare lie

any of a number of mechanical devices having a vibratory or jerking motion

a light lifting tackle used on ships

a small glass, esp for whisky, with a capacity of about one and a half ounces

NZ a light hand- or power-propelled vehicle used on railway lines

engineering a type of hydraulic lift in which a hydraulic ram operates the lift through a block and tackle which increases the length of the stroke

Canadian a device used when setting a gill net beneath ice

mining another word for jig (def. 5)

nautical short for jiggermast

billiards another word for bridge 1 (def. 10)

US and Canadian informal a device or thing the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten

Liverpool dialect an alleyway

jigger

jigger flea

noun

other names for the chigoe (def. 1)

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

Word Origin and History for jigger

"1.5-ounce shot glass," 1836, American English, in early use also of the drink itself, from jigger "illicit distillery" (1824), of unknown origin; or else perhaps from jigger, a 1756 alteration of chigger "tiny mite or flea." As a name for various appliances, the word is attested by 1825, from jig.

jigger in Medicine

jigger

[jĭg′ər]

n.

chigger

chigoe