badger

Bad·ger
B3A1D2G2E1R1
UK/ˈbæd͡ʒə/US/ˈbæd͡ʒɚ/

noun

Any member of species of the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora or Taxidea, of mammals.

Less commonScrabble 10

Meanings

badger1

nounbadger (plural badgers)

plural badgers

  1. Any member of species of the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora or Taxidea, of mammals.
  2. A native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin.

    Synonyms: brock, Wisconsinite

  3. obsoleteA brush made of badger hair.
  4. in pluralobsoletecantA gang of robbers who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered.
  5. slangball gamesA person who is very fond of cricket.
verbbadger (third-person singular simple present badgers, present participle badgering, simple past and past participle badgered)

present singular third person badgers · participle present badgering · participle past badgered · past badgered

  1. transitiveTo pester; to annoy persistently; to press.

    He kept badgering her about her bad habits.

    1 more example

    "Yeah? Cool. Just a warning: people are going to badger you about that. It's practically inevitable for gay trans people."

    2013 September 17, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 426 - Trans AND Gay

    Synonyms: bait, hound, bait, bedevil, beleaguer, persecute, dog, bullyrag

badger2

nounbadger (plural badgers)

plural badgers

  1. obsoleteAn itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker or huckster; especially one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another.

Badger3

nounBadger (plural Badgers)

plural Badgers

  1. A native or resident of the American state of Wisconsin.

Badger4

Badger5

nounBadger (plural Badgers)

plural Badgers

  1. 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.

    1999, John Bowers, Jeremy Lewis, Jack Mitchell, Whistleblowing: The New Law, page 44
    1 more example

    St John's Ambulance encourages 7-10-year-olds to join their Badger Setts and earn badges, learning skills in first aid and helping local communities as well as leadership and communication. Known as 'Badgers', their sweatshirts and badges use a badger logo.

    2021, Jo Byrne, Badger Book, page 153

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin.

More synonyms by meaning

nouna native or resident of Wisconsin

Broader

verbannoy persistently

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

badger · noun, verb

  1. Middle Englishbageard“marked by a badge”
  2. Englishbadger

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.

Full word history & related roots →

badger · noun

Unknown Possibly from bagger. "Baggier" is cited by the OED in 1467-8.

Full word history & related roots →

Badger · proper noun

  1. Old English*Bæcg“a personal name”
  2. EnglishBadger

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.

Full word history & related roots →

Badger · noun

From badger, the animal.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans ratel, das
  • ratela kind of mammal
  • dasa kind of mammal
Ancient Greek τρόχος
  • τρόχος (trókhos)a kind of mammal
Arabic غُرَيْر
  • غُرَيْر (ḡurayr)a kind of mammal
Basque azkonar
  • azkonara kind of mammal
Bulgarian я́зовец, борсу́к
  • я́зовец (jázovec)a kind of mammal
  • борсу́к (borsùk)a kind of mammal
  • бърсу́к (bărsùk)a kind of mammal
  • дразня́ (draznjá)pester
  • безпоко́я (bezpokója)pester
Catalan teixó
  • teixóa kind of mammal
Chinese Mandarin 獾, 糾纏 /纠缠
  • 獾 (huān)a kind of mammal
  • 糾纏 /纠缠 (jiūchán)pester
  • 困擾 /困扰 (kùnrǎo)pester
Czech jezevec
  • jezeveca kind of mammal
Danish grævling
  • grævlinga kind of mammal
Dutch das, voortdurend lastigvallen
  • dasa kind of mammal
  • voortdurend lastigvallenpester
  • steeds zeuren overpester
  • voortdurend aandringenpester
Esperanto melo
  • meloa kind of mammal
Estonian mäger, määr
  • mägera kind of mammal
  • määra kind of mammal
Finnish mäyrä, kiusata
  • mäyräa kind of mammal
  • kiusatapester
French blaireau, taper sur le système
  • blaireaua kind of mammal
  • taper sur le systèmepester
  • casser les couillespester
  • emmerderpester
  • les briserpester
  • beurrer la raiepester
German Dachs, belästigen
  • Dachsa kind of mammal
  • belästigenpester
  • plagenpester
  • piesackenpester
Greek ασβός, ενοχλώ
  • ασβός (asvós)a kind of mammal
  • ενοχλώ (enochló)pester
  • παρενοχλώ (parenochló)pester
  • πειράζω (peirázo)pester
Hebrew גִּירִית
  • גִּירִית (girit)a kind of mammal
Hindi बिज्जू
  • बिज्जू (bijjū)a kind of mammal
Hungarian borz, piszkál
  • borza kind of mammal
  • piszkálpester
Icelandic greifingi
  • greifingia kind of mammal
Indonesian biul
  • biula kind of mammal
Irish broc
  • broca kind of mammal
Italian tasso
  • tassoa kind of mammal
Japanese アナグマ, 穴熊
  • アナグマ (anaguma)a kind of mammal
  • 穴熊 (anaguma)a kind of mammal
Korean 오소리
  • 오소리 (osori)a kind of mammal
Latin mēlēs, taxō
  • mēlēsa kind of mammal
  • taxōa kind of mammal
  • sollicitōpester
  • inrītōpester
  • irrītōpester
Latvian āpsis
  • āpsisa kind of mammal
Lithuanian barsukas, opšrus
  • barsukasa kind of mammal
  • opšrusa kind of mammal
Malay bejar
  • bejara kind of mammal
Māori pateri, mamare
  • pateria kind of mammal
  • mamarepester
Norwegian Bokmål grevling
  • grevlinga kind of mammal
Persian گورکن, اشغور
  • گورکن (gurkan)a kind of mammal
  • اشغور (ošġur)a kind of mammal
Polish borsuk, jaźwiec
  • borsuka kind of mammal
  • jaźwieca kind of mammal
  • wiercić dziurę w brzuchupester
  • naprzykrzać siępester
  • naprzykrzyć siępester
Portuguese texugo
  • texugoa kind of mammal
Romanian viezure, bursuc
  • viezurea kind of mammal
  • bursuca kind of mammal
Russian барсу́к, язве́ц
  • барсу́к (barsúk)a kind of mammal
  • язве́ц (jazvéc)a kind of mammal
  • дразни́ть (draznítʹ)pester
  • беспоко́ить (bespokóitʹ)pester
  • досажда́ть (dosaždátʹ)pester
Scottish Gaelic broc
  • broca kind of mammal
Slovak jazvec
  • jazveca kind of mammal
Spanish tejón, tasugo
  • tejóna kind of mammal
  • tasugoa kind of mammal
  • tajugoa kind of mammal
  • melandroa kind of mammal
  • fastidiarpester
  • molestarpester
  • importunarpester
Swahili melesi
  • melesia kind of mammal
Swedish grävling
  • grävlinga kind of mammal
Tagalog tasugo, badyer
  • tasugoa kind of mammal
  • badyera kind of mammal
Thai แบดเจอร์
  • แบดเจอร์ (bɛ́ɛt-jə̂ə)a kind of mammal
Turkish porsuk
  • porsuka kind of mammal
Ukrainian борсу́к, язве́ць
  • борсу́к (borsúk)a kind of mammal
  • язве́ць (jazvéc')a kind of mammal
Vietnamese lửng
  • lửnga kind of mammal
Welsh moch daear, broch
  • moch daeara kind of mammal
  • brocha kind of mammal
  • daearfocha kind of mammal
Yiddish דאַקס
  • דאַקס (daks)a kind of mammal

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with badger

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

badger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badger

MLA

“badger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badger. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “badger,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badger.

Source: badger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.