digger
digger Lexical Profile
digger Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British A large piece of heavy construction machinery equipped with a movable arm and bucket used for excavating earth.
"The construction crew brought in a mechanical digger to clear the foundation trench before pouring the concrete."
A person, animal, or tool that digs in the earth, especially a miner or prospector searching for gold or other precious minerals.
"Thousands of hopeful diggers flocked to the riverbanks during the nineteenth-century gold rush."
Australian An informal term for a soldier from Australia or New Zealand, or a friendly form of address for a man.
"The memorial service honored the courage and camaraderie of the diggers who served overseas."
• Rhymes for digger
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in late Middle English from the verb 'dig' and the agentive suffix '-er'. The Australian and New Zealand military sense emerged during the First World War, carried over from the 19th-century goldfields where prospectors addressed one another as 'digger' as a term of camaraderie.