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jigger1

[jig-er]
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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).
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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.
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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.
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Origin of jigger3

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

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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
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jigger2

jigger flea

noun
  1. other names for the chigoe (def. 1)
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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
jigger in Medicine

jigger

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