jigger

plural jiggers

1. USA double-ended vessel, generally of stainless steel or other metal, one end of which typically measures 1½ fluid ounces (approx. 44 ml), the other typically 1 fluid ounce (approx. 30 ml).

   A good jigger will have a well formed lip that will pour a clean stream into the cocktail shaker or glass.

   2000, Robert B. Hess, drinkboy.com

   1 more example

   He also championed the “bartender’s choice” found on many cocktail menus, the use of jiggers to measure out drinks, and even the ubiquitous use of cucumber slices in water glasses.

   2015 August 22, Robert Simonson, “Sasha Petraske, 42, Dies; Bar Owner Restored Luster to Cocktail Culture”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

2. USA measure of 1½ fluid ounces (approx. 44 ml) of liquor.

   “People are so dam’ sensitive about colour around here that you can’t even ask a barman for a jigger of rum. You have to ask for a jegro.”

   1956, Ian Fleming, chapter 13, in Diamonds Are Forever

   Synonyms: pony

3. USslangA drink of whiskey.
4. businessThe sieve used in sorting or separating ore.
5. businessOne who jigs; a miner who sorts or cleans ore by the process of jigging.
6. potteryA horizontal lathe used in producing flatware.

   Hand jiggers consisted of two iron frames with a spindle in each - the driving spindle with its iron belt pulley approximately 20 inches in diameter and the driven spindle with a small wooden pulley.

   2004, thepotteries.org, Jiggering

   Synonyms: jolley

7. businessA device used in the dyeing of cloth.
8. A pendulum rolling machine for slicking or graining leather.
9. UKdatedslangA bicycle.

   He made the discovery that the bikestand was vacant and the machine gone. "Where the thump's my jigger?" he exclaimed.

   1932, Frank Richards, “The Complete Outsider”, in The Magnet

10. datedslangAn automobile.

    1 more example

    '[…] And that's your little jigger waiting then? I'm looking forward to something on four wheels myself, but so far I have to be content with two.' 'It's hardly worth while offering you a lift,' said Carrados, when they were in the road, 'but if you don't mind I should like to walk with you as far as your gate.'

    1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

11. datedgolfA golf club used to play low flying shots to the putting green from short distances.
12. A warehouse crane.
13. nauticalA light tackle, consisting of a double and single block and the fall, used for various purposes, as to increase the purchase on a topsail sheet in hauling it home; the watch tackle.
14. nauticalA jiggermast.

    Synonyms: jiggermast

15. New EnglandnauticalA small fishing vessel, rigged like a yawl.
16. fishingA device used by fishermen to set their nets under the ice of frozen lakes.
17. archaicOne who dances jigs; an odd-looking person.
18. New ZealandA short board or plank inserted into a tree for a person to stand on while cutting off higher branches.
19. USA placeholder name for any small mechanical device.

    “an air-brush is a big thing-a-ma-bob or whatcha-callit, full of gas, and when you turn on a little jigger, it causes compressed air to squeeze out, which, in turn, going through a needle—” “That wasn't part of the contract, Mr. Jones,” […]

    1915, Printers' Ink, page 119

    Synonyms: thingamajig

20. New Zealandrail transportA railway jigger, a small motorized or human powered vehicle used by railway workers to traverse railway tracks.
21. The bridge or rest for the cue in billiards.
22. hobbiesAn illicit electric shock device used to urge on a horse during a race.
23. archaicA streetcar drawn by a single horse.
24. archaicA kind of early electric cash register.
25. AustraliaslanggeographyA total station or its predecessor, a theodolite.

present singular third person jiggers · participle present jiggering · participle past jiggered · past jiggered

1. transitiveTo alter or adjust, particularly in ways not originally intended.

   You'll have to jigger it from the original specifications to get it to work.

2. transitivepotteryTo use a jigger.

   Synonyms: jolley

3. transitiveTo move, send, or drive with a jerk; to jerk; also, to drive or send over with a jerk, as a golf ball.

   He could jigger the ball o'er a steeple tall as most men would jigger a cop.

   1899, Carlyle Smith, “The Secret of Golf”, in Harper's Magazine

plural jiggers

1. A sandflea, Tunga penetrans, of the order Siphonaptera; chigoe.
2. A larva of any of several mites in the family Trombiculidae; chigger, harvest mite.

plural jiggers · alternative gigger · alternative gyger · alternative jegger

1. archaicslangA prison; a jail cell.

   According to a disciplinary notice, a correctional officer saw a "jigger string" coming from cell H-2 to Harper's cell. A jigger string is used to move objects between cells.

   1990, “Supreme Court of Iowa”, in Court Listener, Harper v. State, 463 N.W.2d 418 (Iowa 1990)

2. dateddialectalLiverpoolAn alleyway separating the backs of two rows of houses.

   "It's jus' through this jigger and round the back of the next block." She hurried through the alleyway in front of me; the pressing back-yard walls prevented anything more than single file.

   1967, Peter Madden, “The Supreme Winnower”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 301, William Blackwood, →OCLC, page 178

   Synonyms: alley

3. datedeuphemisticslangThe penis.

   Well, they saw a little boy on the street and his penis was hanging out and they said his "jigger" was hanging out, and I said, "Well, maybe his mother didn't tell him differently."

   1931, Chloe Owings, A Research in Parental Sex Education, University of Minnesota Press, →OCLC, page 245

4. euphemisticslangA vagina.

   A tiny pulse from Lisette's thigh beat under my ear: stroke, stroke, stroke. I contemplated the thick red bush of her jigger, so close to my face.

   2002, Nalo Hopkinson, “Paris, 1842”, in Elizabeth Ruth, editor, Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales, Toronto: Women's Press, →ISBN, page 23

5. UKobsoletethieves' cantA door.

   "Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degan, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged."

   1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter LXXXIII, in Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 402

   1 more example

   On getting to the top of the stair, to my disappointment there was a padlock upon the garret jigger; I wheep't out my chive, broke it up, and picked the padlock with the back-spring.

   1821, David Haggart, The Life of David Haggart, page 98

6. slangAn illegal distillery.
7. UKabbreviationellipsisslangEllipsis of jigger gun (“lock pick”).

   Sizing up the padlock, Mac slapped at a webbing pocket for his lock jiggers, but felt nothing.

   2010, Mark Abernethy, Second Strike, →ISBN, page 19

   1 more example

   The question is, where did he get this jigger from? You don't buy them at ironmongers, you know.' He handled the bright instrument lovingly. As he moved the handles the two tiny levers opened and shut like the mandibles of a Picasso crab.

   2012, Michael Gilbert, Sky High, →ISBN, page 183

present singular third person jiggers · participle present jiggering · participle past jiggered · past jiggered · alternative gigger · alternative gyger · alternative jegger

1. obsoleteslangTo imprison.

   ...offering to swear an alibi for the prisoner [...] to ensure an acquittal. Terms: £50 for value received. No pay if jiggered.

   1870, J.T. Campion, “Billy in the Bowl”, in The Shamrock, volume 8, page 107

2. archaicslangTo confound; to damn.

   jigger me, but I think you be turning jest into earnest,

   1831, John Banim, The Smuggler, page 231

   1 more example

   It had always been his habit to say, "I will be jiggered," but this time he said, "I am jiggered."

   1887, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Little Lord Fauntleroy, page 173