jigger

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

Also called jigger flea. chigoe.

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. chigger.

Origin:
1750–60; variant of chigger

verb (used with object)

to interfere with.

to manipulate or alter, especially in order to get something done illegally or unethically: to jigger company records to conceal a loss.

Origin:
1865–70; jig² (in verbal sense) + -er⁶

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To jigger

Collins

World English Dictionary

jigger¹ (ˈdʒɪɡə)

—n
1.	a person or thing that jigs
2.	golf an iron, now obsolete, with a thin blade, used for hitting long shots from a bare lie
3.	any of a number of mechanical devices having a vibratory or jerking motion
4.	a light lifting tackle used on ships
5.	a small glass, esp for whisky, with a capacity of about one and a half ounces
6.	(NZ) a light hand- or power-propelled vehicle used on railway lines
7.	engineering a type of hydraulic lift in which a hydraulic ram operates the lift through a block and tackle which increases the length of the stroke
8.	(Canadian) a device used when setting a gill net beneath ice
9.	mining another word for jig
10.	nautical short for jiggermast
11.	billiards another word for bridge
12.	informal (US), (Canadian) a device or thing the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten
13.	dialect (Liverpool) an alleyway

jigger or jigger flea² (ˈdʒɪɡə)

—n
	other names for the chigoe

jigger flea or jigger flea²

—n

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

jigger

"1.5-ounce shot glass," 1836, from jigger, a 1756 alteration of chigger "tiny mite or flea" (q.v.). As a name for various appliances, it is attested from 1825, from jig (q.v.).

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

jigger jig·ger² (jĭg'ər)
n.

See chigger.
See chigoe.

Slang Dictionary

jigger definition

n.
a drink of whiskey. (The standard term for a small container used for measuring the right amount of liquor for a drink.) : How about another jigger of that shine?
n.
a cigarette. : You got a jigger I can bum?
n.
a gadget. : Toss me one of those copper jiggers there in the box.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences

After heating, add a jigger of spirits and a cinnamon stick.

Each of us had to down a jigger of the stuff in one gulp.

When the pre-set weight of fish has been hooked, the jigger can automatically reel in the line.

If the bartender pours using a jigger, record the jigger size and measure the contents of the jigger using water and the graduate.

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Related Words

jiggermast chigger

chigoe ketch

Matching Quote

"Now we may have more preachers out there than we have drinkers. But a fellow told me a story one time about a man down in Kentucky where they make bourbon. And he said you can take a jigger or two jiggers and get by all right. But if you try to take the whole bottle why you have lost what you started with. So don't try to take it too quick. And don't try to do all of it at once. I don't do much promising. I tell what my goals are and then I try to wrap it up and put a blue ribbon on it and get it delivered. We say put the coonskin on the wall."

-Lyndon Baines Johnson