jig·ger
1 (jĭǵər)
noun
- A person who jigs or operates a jig.
- A small measure for liquor, usually holding 1 ounces.
- This amount of liquor.
- A device, such as a drill, that operates with a jerking or jolting motion.
- Nautical
- A light all-purpose tackle.
- A small sail set in the stern of a yawl or similar boat.
- A boat having such a sail.
- A jigger mast.
- Informal An article or a device, the name of which eludes one.
jig·ger
2 (jĭǵər)
[Variant of chigger.]
noun
- See chigger
- See chigoe
chig·ger
(chĭǵər)
[Alteration of chigoe.]
noun
- Any of various small, six-legged larvae of mites of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on insects, humans, and other vertebrates. The chigger's bite produces a wheal that is usually accompanied by severe itching. Also called chigoe, harvest bug, harvest mite, jigger2, red bug
- See chigoe
chig·oe
(chĭǵō, chḗgō)
[Possibly from Galibi chico, or of African origin; see jigger2.]
noun
- A small tropical flea (Tunga penetrans), the fertilized female of which burrows under the skin of animals and humans, causing intense irritation and sores that may become severely infected. Also called chigger, jigger2, sand flea
- See chigger
