Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

jigger1

[jig-er]
See more synonyms for jigger on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that jigs.
  2. Nautical.
    1. the lowermost sail set on a jiggermast.
    2. jiggermast.
    3. a light tackle, as a gun tackle.
  3. any of various mechanical devices, many of which have a jerky or jolting motion.
  4. Informal. some contrivance, article, or part that one cannot or does not name more precisely: What is that little jigger on the pistol?
  5. Ceramics. a machine for forming plates or the like in a plaster mold rotating beneath a template.
  6. Mining. a jig for separating ore.
  7. a jig for fishing.
  8. Golf. a club with an iron head intermediate between a mashie and a midiron, now rarely used.
  9. Billiards, Pool. a bridge.
    1. a 1½-oz. (45-ml) measure used in cocktail recipes.
    2. a small whiskey glass holding 1½ ounces (45 ml).
Show More

Origin of jigger1

First recorded in 1665–75; jig1 + -er1

jigger2

[jig-er]
noun
  1. Also called jigger flea. chigoe.
  2. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. chigger.
Show More

Origin of jigger2

First recorded in 1750–60; variant of chigger

jigger3

[jig-er]
verb (used with object)
  1. to interfere with.
  2. 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 jigger3

1865–70; jig2 (in verbal sense) + -er6
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

contraptionwidgetbusinessapparatusutensiltoolobjectappliancedoodadthinginventioncontrivancethingamajiggimmickconcerndoohickeygizmowhatchamacallitsipshot

Examples from the Web for jigger

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for jigger

jigger1

noun
  1. a person or thing that jigs
  2. golf an iron, now obsolete, with a thin blade, used for hitting long shots from a bare lie
  3. any of a number of mechanical devices having a vibratory or jerking motion
  4. a light lifting tackle used on ships
  5. a small glass, esp for whisky, with a capacity of about one and a half ounces
  6. NZ a light hand- or power-propelled vehicle used on railway lines
  7. 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
  8. Canadian a device used when setting a gill net beneath ice
  9. mining another word for jig (def. 5)
  10. nautical short for jiggermast
  11. billiards another word for bridge 1 (def. 10)
  12. US and Canadian informal a device or thing the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten
  13. Liverpool dialect an alleyway
Show More

jigger2

jigger flea

noun
  1. other names for the chigoe (def. 1)
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.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
jigger in Medicine

jigger

(jĭg′ər)
n.
  1. chigger
  2. chigoe
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.