Badger
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Any mammal belonging to the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora and Taxidea.
- 2 An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; -- formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another. obsolete
- 3 A native or resident of the American state of Wisconsin.
- 4 A child member of the St John Ambulance medical volunteering organisation.
"She was also a leader, trainer and supervisor of the children's arm of St John's Ambulance (“the Badgers”). She worked over 50 hours a year but received no salary and was not required to attend events."
- 5 sturdy carnivorous burrowing mammal with strong claws; widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere wordnet
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- 6 A native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin.
- 7 a native or resident of Wisconsin wordnet
- 8 A brush made of badger hair. obsolete
- 9 A gang of robbers who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered. in-plural, obsolete
- 10 A person who is very fond of cricket. slang
- 1 To pester; to annoy persistently; to press. transitive
"He kept badgering her about her bad habits."
- 2 persuade through constant efforts wordnet
- 3 annoy persistently wordnet
- 1 A village in Shropshire, England.
- 2 A town in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
- 3 A habitational surname from Old English.
Example
More examples"A man of weak will is the target of criticism; even his friends would badger him into correcting his defects."
Etymology
From Middle English bageard (“marked by a badge”), from bage (“badge”), referring to the animal's badge-like white blaze, equivalent to badge + -ard. Displaced earlier brock, from Old English brocc.
Unknown (Possibly from "bagger". "Baggier" is cited by the OED in 1467-8)
See Badger State.
From Old English *Bæcg (“a personal name”) + ofer (“hill spur”). The name of the town in Newfoundland likely derives from the surname of one of its first inhabitants.
From badger, the animal.