jigger

Meanings

1. A 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).
2. A measure of 1½ fluid ounces (approx. 44 ml) of liquor.
3. A drink of whiskey.
4. The sieve used in sorting or separating ore.
5. One who jigs; a miner who sorts or cleans ore by the process of jigging.
6. A horizontal lathe used in producing flatware.
7. A device used in the dyeing of cloth.
8. A pendulum rolling machine for slicking or graining leather.
9. A bicycle.
10. An automobile.
11. A golf club used to play low flying shots to the putting green from short distances.
12. A warehouse crane.

1. To alter or adjust, particularly in ways not originally intended.
2. To use a jigger.
3. To move, send, or drive with a jerk; to jerk; also, to drive or send over with a jerk, as a golf ball.

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.

1. A prison; a jail cell.
2. An alleyway separating the backs of two rows of houses.
3. The penis.
4. A vagina.
5. A door.
6. An illegal distillery.
7. Ellipsis of jigger gun (“lock pick”).

1. To imprison.
2. To confound; to damn.

Etymology

From jig + -er (agent suffix). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to Old High German gīga (“fiddle”), for which see modern German Geige.