digger

[dig-er] /ˈdɪg ər/
noun
1.
a person or an animal that digs.
2.
a tool, part of a machine, etc., for digging.
3.
(initial capital letter) Disparaging.. Also called Digger Indian. a member of any of several Indian peoples of western North America, especially of a tribe that dug roots for food.
4.
an Australian or New Zealand soldier of World War I.
5.
(initial capital letter) English History. a member of a group that advocated the abolition of private property and began in 1649 to cultivate certain common lands.
6.
Slang. a person hired by a scalper to buy tickets to a show or performance for resale by the scalper at inflated prices.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English; see dig1, -er1
Usage note
White settlers in the latter half of the 19th century used the term Digger to refer especially to the Ute, Paiute, or Western Shoshone, who foraged and dug in the ground for edible wild plants. The term implies that these Indians were considered to be primitive and animal-like.
Examples from the web for digger
  • Two storeys have been removed, and an abandoned digger now sits on top of the partly dismantled tower.
  • Even industry is starting to complain about a gold-digger mentality among academic administrators.
  • Check out the original hippie-digger poetry and manifestoes: euphoria, overflowing optimism, and expectation of immediate success.
  • The digger merely seemed to exercise his imagination in reverse.
  • It is an exceptionally fast digger, but otherwise moves fairly slowly.
British Dictionary definitions for digger

digger

/ˈdɪɡə/
noun
1.
a person, animal, or machine that digs
2.
a miner, esp one who digs for gold
3.
a tool or part of a machine used for excavation, esp a mechanical digger fitted with a head for digging trenches

Digger

/ˈdɪɡə/
noun
1.
(sometimes not capital) (archaic, slang)
  1. an Australian or New Zealander, esp a soldier: often used as a term of address
  2. (as modifier): a Digger accent
2.
one of a number of tribes of America whose diet was largely composed of roots dug out of the ground
Word Origin and History for digger
n.

mid-15c., "one who digs," agent noun from dig (v.). The communistic movement in England so called from 1649.

Slang definitions & phrases for digger

digger

noun
  1. An Australian or New Zealander (WWI Australian and New Zealand)
  2. gold-digger: She was just a plain digger (1920+)
  3. A pickpocket (1930s+)
  4. A person who buys tickets to be sold at prices higher than is legally permitted; scalper: They use diggers, dozens of guys who stand in lines and buy the maximum (1970s+)