jigger
English
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 239: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈdʒɪɡɚ/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 239: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈdʒɪɡə/
Audio (AU): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪɡə(ɹ)
Etymology 1
From jig + -er (agent suffix).
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old High German gīga (“fiddle”).
Noun
jigger (plural jiggers)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Jigger.jpg/220px-Jigger.jpg)
- (US) A double-ended vessel, generally of stainless steel or other metal, one end of which typically measures 1 1/2 fluid ounces, the other typically 1 fluid ounce.
- 2000, Robert B. Hess, drinkboy.com:
- A good jigger will have a well formed lip that will pour a clean stream into the cocktail shaker or glass.
- 2000, Robert B. Hess, drinkboy.com:
- (US) A measure of 1 1/2 fluid ounces of liquor.
- (US, slang) A drink of whisky.
- (mining) The sieve used in sorting or separating ore.
- (mining) One who jigs; a miner who sorts or cleans ore by the process of jigging.
- (pottery) A horizontal lathe used in producing flatware.
- 2004, thepotteries.org, "Jiggering":
- Hand jiggers consisted of two iron frames with a spindle in each - the driving spindle with its iron belt pulley approximately 20 inches in diameter and the driven spindle with a small wooden pulley.
- 2004, thepotteries.org, "Jiggering":
- (textiles) A device used in the dyeing of cloth.
- A pendulum rolling machine for slicking or graining leather.
- (UK, slang, dated) A bicycle.
- 1932, Frank Richards, "The Complete Outsider", The Magnet:
- He made the discovery that the bikestand was vacant and the machine gone. "Where the thump's my jigger?" he exclaimed.
- 1932, Frank Richards, "The Complete Outsider", The Magnet:
- (golf, dated) A golf club used to play low flying shots to the putting green from short distances.
- A warehouse crane.
- (nautical) A light tackle, consisting of a double and single block and the fall, used for various purposes, as to increase the purchase on a topsail sheet in hauling it home; the watch tackle.
- (nautical) A jiggermast.
- (nautical, New England) A small fishing vessel, rigged like a yawl.
- (fishing) A device used by fishermen to set their nets under the ice of frozen lakes.
- (archaic) One who dances jigs; an odd-looking person.
- (New Zealand) A short board or plank inserted into a tree for a person to stand on while cutting off higher branches.
- (US) A placeholder name for any small mechanical device.
- (rail transport, New Zealand) A railway jigger, a small motorized or human powered vehicle used by railway workers to traverse railway tracks.
- The bridge or rest for the cue in billiards.
- (horse racing) An illicit electric shock device used to urge on a horse during a race.
- (archaic) A streetcar drawn by a single horse.
- (archaic) A kind of early electric cash register.
Synonyms
- (pottery lathe): jolley
- (nautical mast): jiggermast
- (measure of liquor): pony
- (placeholder name): thingamajig; doojigger; see also Thesaurus:thingy
- (rail vehicle): handcar; speeder
Translations
Verb
jigger (third-person singular simple present jiggers, present participle jiggering, simple past and past participle jiggered)
- To alter or adjust, particularly in ways not originally intended.
- You'll have to jigger it from the original specifications to get it to work.
- (pottery) To use a jigger.
- To move, send, or drive with a jerk; to jerk; also, to drive or send over with a jerk, as a golf ball.
- 1899, Carlyle Smith, "The Secret of Golf", Harper's Magazine:
- He could jigger the ball o'er a steeple tall as most men would jigger a cop.
- 1899, Carlyle Smith, "The Secret of Golf", Harper's Magazine:
Synonyms
- (use a pottery jigger): jolley
Derived terms
See also
Etymology 2
Likely a corruption of chigoe. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible derivation from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Wolof jiga (“insect”).
Noun
jigger (plural jiggers)
- A sandflea, Tunga penetrans, of the order Siphonaptera; chigoe.
- A larva of any of several mites in the family Lua error in Module:taxlink at line 68: Parameter "noshow" is not used by this template.; chigger, harvest mite.
Etymology 3
A slang term of unknown origin, originally meaning prison. Oxford English Dictionary suggests that its origin might be the same as Etymology 1, above.
Alternative forms
Noun
jigger (plural jiggers)
- (slang, archaic) A prison; a jail cell.
- 1990, “Supreme Court of Iowa”, in Court Listener[1], Harper v. State, 463 N.W.2d 418 (Iowa 1990):
- According to a disciplinary notice, a correctional officer saw a "jigger string" coming from cell H-2 to Harper's cell. A jigger string is used to move objects between cells.
- (dialect, Liverpool, dated) An alleyway separating the backs of two rows of houses.
- 1967, Peter Madden, “The Supreme Winnower”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 301, William Blackwood, →OCLC, page 178:
- "It's jus' through this jigger and round the back of the next block." She hurried through the alleyway in front of me; the pressing back-yard walls prevented anything more than single file.
- (slang, euphemistic) A penis.
- 1931, Chloe Owings, A Research in Parental Sex Education, University of Minnesota Press, →OCLC, page 245:
- Well, they saw a little boy on the street and his penis was hanging out and they said his "jigger" was hanging out, and I said, "Well, maybe his mother didn't tell him differently."
- (slang, euphemistic) A vagina.
- 2002, Nalo Hopkinson, “Paris, 1842”, in Elizabeth Ruth, editor, Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales, Toronto: Women's Press, →ISBN, page 23:
- A tiny pulse from Lisette's thigh beat under my ear: stroke, stroke, stroke. I contemplated the thick red bush of her jigger, so close to my face.
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A door.
- 1821, David Haggart, The Life of David Haggart[2], page 98:
- On getting to the top of the stair, to my disappointment there was a padlock upon the garret jigger; I wheep't out my chive, broke it up, and picked the padlock with the back-spring.
- 1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter LXXXIII, in Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman[3], page 402:
- "Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degan, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged."
- (slang) An illegal distillery.
- (slang, UK) A lock pick.
- 1935, Science News Letter - Volumes 27-28, page 164:
- Officials of Chicago't Cook County Jail watch Ed Stanley, inmate, pick sample locks with a professional "jigger gun."
- 1936, Clyde B. Clason, The Fifth Tumbler, page 245:
- The jigger gun and nippers would be out of sight down the shaft, and the face of the plate hides the thread.
- 1938, Chain Store Age - Volume 14, page 147:
- ...of attack that open practically any padlock — the use of keys, picking of the lock with hand picks or jigger guns, ....
- 2010, Mark Abernethy, Second Strike, →ISBN, page 19:
- Sizing up the padlock, Mac slapped at a webbing pocket for his lock jiggers, but felt nothing.
Synonyms
- (alleyway): See Thesaurus:alley
Derived terms
- jigger-dubber (“jailer”)
Verb
jigger (third-person singular simple present jiggers, present participle jiggering, simple past and past participle jiggered)
- (slang, obsolete) To imprison.
- 1870, J.T. Campion, "Billy in the Bowl", The Shamrock volume 8, page 107:
- ...offering to swear an alibi for the prisoner [...] to ensure an acquittal. Terms: £50 for value received. No pay if jiggered.
- 1870, J.T. Campion, "Billy in the Bowl", The Shamrock volume 8, page 107:
- (slang, archaic) To confound; to damn.
- 1831, John Banim, The Smuggler page 231:
- jigger me, but I think you be turning jest into earnest,
- 1887, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Little Lord Fauntleroy page 173:
- It had always been his habit to say, "I will be jiggered," but this time he said, "I am jiggered."
- 1831, John Banim, The Smuggler page 231:
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933..
- Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Merriam-Webster, 1993.
- “jigger”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪɡə(ɹ)
- English terms suffixed with -er
- English terms derived from Old High German
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English slang
- en:Mining
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- British English
- English dated terms
- en:Golf
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- New England English
- en:Fishing
- English terms with archaic senses
- New Zealand English
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- English verbs
- English terms derived from Wolof
- English terms with quotations
- English dialectal terms
- Liverpudlian English
- English euphemisms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English Thieves' Cant
- English placeholder terms
- en:Fleas
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- en:People
- en:Prison