a tool or part of a machine used for excavation, esp a mechanical digger fitted with a head for digging trenches
Digger in British English
(ˈdɪɡə)
noun
1. (sometimes not capital) archaic, slang
a.
an Australian or New Zealander, esp a soldier: often used as a term of address
b.
(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
digger in American English
(ˈdɪɡər)
noun
1.
a person or an animal that digs
2.
a tool, part of a machine, etc., for digging
3. (cap)
a member of any of several indigenous peoples of western North America, esp. of a tribe that dug roots for food
4.
an Australian or New Zealand soldier of World War I
5. (cap) 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
Word origin
[1400–50; late ME; see dig1, -er1]
Examples of 'digger' in a sentence
digger
His concerns were that she was a gold digger.
The Sun (2017)
A digger was also used as the first of the makeshift homes was torn down.
The Sun (2016)
It is a digger driver who decides what the landscape will look like.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
With the increase in gold prices has come the rise of the new gold digger.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Mechanical diggers have carved out a deep surrounding trench.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
This woman is not a gold digger.
The Sun (2009)
How do you know if they are a gold digger?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Gold diggers need to play it cool.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
He became trapped in the mechanical digger which pulled in the rest of his leg up the groin.
The Sun (2016)
The digger driver then proves the phone is undamaged and still working by using it to take a photo.
The Sun (2014)
He pressed his face to the ground and smelt the earth as behind him a mechanical digger stood waiting.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
He is a self-employed digger driver and does not get sick pay.
The Sun (2013)
But the 30-year-old beautician insists she is no gold digger.
The Sun (2016)
She knew there was no money left so it wasn't a case of her being a gold digger.
The Sun (2013)
But it's shocking how quick the world is to rubbish her and make out she is a gold digger.
The Sun (2016)
Raiders used this mechanical digger to RIP a cashpoint out of a bank.
The Sun (2010)
COPS yesterday descended on a farm field with mechanical diggers in the grim hunt for a woman's body.
The Sun (2011)
A specialist marine rescue team used diggers to heave it on to the back of a truck and take it to a landfill site for disposal.
The Sun (2012)
Officers used a digger to carve out a trench 10ft deep and 40ft long to get to the van.
The Sun (2011)
By the end of February I needed to use the digger to keep it all in shape.
The Sun (2013)
In the blazing heat, a yellow mechanical digger was gouging a huge trench, gently dumping dirt and bundles of bones wrapped in cloth.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In other languages
digger
British English: digger /ˈdɪɡə/ NOUN
A digger is a machine that is used for digging.
...a mechanical digger.
American English: digger
Arabic: حَفَّار
Brazilian Portuguese: escavadeira
Chinese: 挖掘机
Croatian: kopač
Czech: bagr
Danish: graver
Dutch: graafmachine
European Spanish: excavadora
Finnish: kaivukone
French: pelleteuse
German: Bagger
Greek: εκσκαφέας
Italian: escavatore
Japanese: 掘削機
Korean: 굴착기
Norwegian: gravemaskin
Polish: koparka
European Portuguese: escavadora
Romanian: excavator
Russian: экскаватор
Latin American Spanish: excavadora
Swedish: grävmaskin
Thai: เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการขุด
Turkish: ekskavatör
Ukrainian: копач
Vietnamese: máy đào
All related terms of 'digger'
digger wasp
any solitary wasp of the families Sphecidae and Pamphilidae that digs nest holes in the ground, rotten wood, or a hollow stem and stocks them with live insects for the larvae
gold-digger
A gold-digger is a person who has a relationship with someone who is rich in order to get money or expensive things from them.
gum digger
a person who digs for fossilized kauri gum in a gum field
well-digger
a person who digs a well
mechanical digger
a machine used for excavation
gum digger's spear
a long steel probe used by gum diggers digging for kauri gum