jigger

Meaning

Noun

1. (US) A double-ended vessel, generally of stainless steel or other metal, one end of which typically measures 1½ fluid ounces (approx. 44 ml), the other typically 1 fluid ounce (approx. 30 ml).
2. (US) A measure of 1½ fluid ounces (approx. 44 ml) of liquor.
3. (US, slang) A drink of whiskey.
4. The sieve used in sorting or separating ore.
5. One who jigs; a miner who sorts or cleans ore by the process of jigging.
6. A horizontal lathe used in producing flatware.
7. A device used in the dyeing of cloth.
8. A pendulum rolling machine for slicking or graining leather.
9. (UK, dated, slang) A bicycle.
10. (dated) A golf club used to play low flying shots to the putting green from short distances.
11. A warehouse crane.
12. 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.
13. A jiggermast.
14. (New-England) A small fishing vessel, rigged like a yawl.
15. A device used by fishermen to set their nets under the ice of frozen lakes.
16. (archaic) One who dances jigs; an odd-looking person.
17. (New-Zealand) A short board or plank inserted into a tree for a person to stand on while cutting off higher branches.
18. (US) A placeholder name for any small mechanical device.
19. (New-Zealand) A railway jigger, a small motorized or human powered vehicle used by railway workers to traverse railway tracks.
20. The bridge or rest for the cue in billiards.
21. An illicit electric shock device used to urge on a horse during a race.
22. (archaic) A streetcar drawn by a single horse.
23. (archaic) A kind of early electric cash register.
24. (Australia, slang) A total station or its predecessor, a theodolite.

Verb

1. (transitive) To alter or adjust, particularly in ways not originally intended.
2. (transitive) To use a jigger.
3. (transitive) To move, send, or drive with a jerk; to jerk; also, to drive or send over with a jerk, as a golf ball.

Verb

1. (obsolete, slang) To imprison.
2. (archaic, slang) To confound; to damn.

Synonyms

chigger

jig

harvest mite

shot glass

sand flea

jiggermast

pony

flea

redbug

pallet truck

tackle

terpsichorean

tick

tool

winch

windlass

pallet jack

trombidiid

washbox

hoisting block

hoisting tackle

lifting block

pulley tackle

chute conveyor

jigging conveyor

wash box

Mower’s mite

trombicula

hoist tackle

purchase-block

pump truck

pump trolley

draisine

barring

pump car

burton

chigoe

contraption

dancer

💃

handcar

implement

instrument

noggin

Translations

chique

χορευτής

bailador de giga

μηχανή

κόλπο

τέχνασμα

aoûtat

faux

Herbstgrasmilbe

aoutat

εργαλείο

τσιμπούρι

Eisenbahn-Draisine

dé à coudre

الجيغة، أسلاك تحتوي على عناقيد من الصنارات

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈd͡ʒɪɡɚ/

Etymology

From jig + -er (agent suffix). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to Old High German gīga (“fiddle”).