badger
Americannoun
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any of various burrowing, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, as Taxidea taxus, of North America, and Meles meles, of Europe and Asia.
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the fur of this mammal.
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Australian.
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a wombat.
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(initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Wisconsin the Badger State (used as a nickname).
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a swablike device for cleaning excess mortar from the interiors of newly laid tile drains.
verb (used with object)
noun
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any of various stocky omnivorous musteline mammals of the subfamily Melinae , such as Meles meles ( Eurasian badger ), occurring in Europe, Asia, and North America: order Carnivora (carnivores). They are typically large burrowing animals, with strong claws and a thick coat striped black and white on the head Compare ferret badger hog badger
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another name for ratel
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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badgersimple
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badgerssimple
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have badgeredperfect
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has badgeredperfect
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am badgeringprogressive
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are badgeringprogressive
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is badgeringprogressive
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have been badgeringperfect progressive
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has been badgeringperfect progressive
Past
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badgeredsimple
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had badgeredperfect
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was badgeringprogressive
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were badgeringprogressive
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had been badgeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of badger
1515–25; variant of badgeard, perhaps badge + -ard, in allusion to white mark or badge on head
Explanation
Badger is to bother. Persistently. On and on. Without stop. Relentlessly. Over and over. Endlessly. It comes from the name of that chipmunk-like animal that burrows into the ground. If you badger someone, you get under their skin. A badger is an animal that digs tunnels under ground to keep warm. To badger can also mean to persuade someone through constant annoying efforts. You might badger your mom to add another hour to your curfew or badger your friend to give you a turn with a video game he has been hogging.
Vocabulary lists containing badger
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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The Cay
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"He deserves better than being replaced by a badger," he said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
The Government last month said it will not be extending the badger cull and retains its commitment to end the practice before the next election.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025
Known as Dachstag, or Badger Day, it was believed that if a badger refused to emerge from its home, locals were in for four more weeks of snow.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2025
As the German-speaking Pennsylvania Dutch settled in America, the tradition moved stateside with a groundhog replacing the badger.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2025
But apparently, the badger was fueled by an infinite storm of curiosity.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Locals have claimed that rare albino deer, great crested newts and badgers all roamed the field prior to it being built on.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
Possibilities, subject to a public consultation, include badgers and otters as well as frogs, hedgehogs, barn owls and newts.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026
“We’ve planted 20,000 trees around the site, we’ve replaced habitats and homes for protected species like bats, newts and badgers and created wildflower meadows specifically for wildlife foraging,” the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Orloff said Ojeda often badgers him about entering games on days that are supposed to be off days.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2025
His dislike for badgers ran very, very deep.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
He asked blistering public questions of city and state leaders, badgered Washington to investigate the fire, and joined other displaced residents in filing a lawsuit for “inverse condemnation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Later headlines would say that Solanas believed Warhol “controlled her life” and that he had “legal claim” over her self-published writing, which she frequently badgered him to read.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
He didn't sing the song live until December 2014 after his crew badgered him to do it.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025
For months, Meta’s algorithm badgered me to buy a little piece of plastic mounted on a magnet.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025
They constantly badgered me to do the “James Brown” for them, a squiggling of the feet made famous by the “Godfather of Soul” himself, who back in the sixties was bigger than life.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
My agents always call me “Dr. No” because I know no matter what, even if I’m not consciously aware of it, it’s there just badgering me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Costco raised its fees in 2024 — the first such increase in seven years — after months of badgering from Wall Street.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
And then there are the bit players they run into throughout who, in Mr. Panahi’s acidic vision of a desperate society, tend to end interactions by badgering for a tip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
“The jury sees this, and it ends up risking looking like you’re just badgering this woman,” Haberman said.
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
Is that why he kept badgering me to get Jillian here tonight?
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
