au·ger

[aw-ger]
noun
1.
Carpentry.
a.
a bit, as for a brace.
b.
a boring tool, similar to but larger than a gimlet, consisting of a bit rotated by a transverse handle.
2.
earth auger.
3.
a device consisting of a shaft with a broad helical flange rotating within a cylindrical casing to force bulk materials from one end to the other.
4.
snake ( def 3a ).
Origin:
before 900; Middle English nauger (a nauger misdivided as an auger; cf. adder, apron), Old English nafogār nave-piercer (cognate with Old Norse nafarr, Old Saxon nabugēr, Middle Dutch navegeer, Old High German nabagēr), equivalent to nafa nave2 + gār spear; cf. gore3, garlic

Can be confused: auger, augur.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Augers is always a great word to know.
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a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
auger (ˈɔːɡə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a hand tool with a bit shaped like a corkscrew, for boring holes in wood
2.  a larger tool of the same kind for boring holes in the ground
 
[C15 an augur, resulting from mistaken division of earlier a nauger, from Old English nafugār nave (of a wheel) spear (that is, tool for boring hubs of wheels), from nafunave² + gār spear; see gore²]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

auger
c.1500, faulty separation of M.E. a nauger, from O.E. nafogar "nave drill," from nafu "nave of a wheel" (see nave (2)) + gar "a spear, borer" (see gar). For similar misdivisions, see adder. The same change took place in Du. (avegaar).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
For the thermal screw units, screw conveyors or hollow augers are used to
  transport the medium through an enclosed trough.
Augers should be clearly labeled as posing a hazard for entanglement and
  subsequent serious injury.
The tunnels are bored by laborers operating big manually powered augers.
The mixing is done using large augers or rototillers.
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