Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for jigger on Thesaurus.com 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). Show More
Origin of jigger 1 First recorded in
1665–75; jig1 +
-er1 Also called jigger flea . chigoe . Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. chigger .Show More
Origin of jigger 2 First recorded in
1750–60; variant of
chigger 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. Show More
Origin of jigger 3 1865–70; jig2 (in verbal sense) +
-er6 Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
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.
I mean, if I was trying to jigger into—well, I guess this is my house now, so [ laughter] it probably wouldn't happen.
“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.
Historical Examples of jigger The jigger had been made and bent, and a suitable mast was stepped by means of the roof.
While examining her with our glasses, a sail was set on her jigger mast.
Jigger , a secret still for the manufacture of illicit spirits.
It had a close resemblance to the jigger of yawl-rigged yachts.
Overhaul a buntline a little, bend the jigger to it, and trice up on deck.
British Dictionary definitions for jigger 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 Show More
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 n. "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 .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
