digger

digger — noun

1. a large vehicle with a metal bucket or scoop at the front, used for breaking up

1.nounB1
Definition

a large vehicle with a metal bucket or scoop at the front, used for breaking up and moving earth, rocks, or other heavy materials at construction sites or mines.

Example

A yellow digger was loading earth into a truck at the construction site.

collocation: digger + construction site

The crew used a digger to dig a deep trench for the new water pipes.

digger + dig a trench

Common collocations
  • operate a digger
  • digger driver
  • digger operator
  • hire a digger
  • digger bucket
Synonyms
  • excavator

    more technical term for the large machine with a cab and long arm; digger is the everyday word

  • backhoe

    a smaller digging machine with a bucket on the back of a tractor, used for narrower jobs

  • mechanical shovel

    British English term for a large digging machine with a scoop

Grammar Patterns

a digger

the digger

diggers

Usage Note

Digger is less formal than excavator. In construction contexts, excavator is the more technical term for the large machine with a cab and arm, while digger can refer to any digging vehicle including smaller ones like backhoes.

Common Mistakes

The digger is a person who operates the machine.
The digger operator controls the machine.
digger is the machine, not the person operating it.

2. a person or animal that makes holes or tunnels in the ground, usually in order t

2.nounB1
Definition

a person or animal that makes holes or tunnels in the ground, usually in order to find food, create shelter, or build a home.

Example

Moles are fast diggers that can tunnel through garden soil in just a few seconds.

collocation: fast digger + tunnel through

The rabbit is a natural digger, creating large underground burrows to raise its young.

Common collocations
  • fast digger
  • skilled digger
  • powerful digger
  • natural digger
Synonyms
  • burrower

    more specific — refers only to animals that dig tunnels (burrows) for living, not to machines or people

  • tunneller

    describes something that makes tunnels, which may be an animal, a person, or a machine

Grammar Patterns

a digger

diggers

3. a person who searches for gold in the ground and takes it out, especially by han

3.nounB2
Definition

a person who searches for gold in the ground and takes it out, especially by hand or with simple tools such as a pan or shovel during a historical gold rush.

Example

During the 1860s gold rush, Tariro worked as a digger in Australia.

historical context: gold rush + gold fields

The old photograph showed diggers with pans and shovels beside a river.

Common collocations
  • gold digger
  • digger in the gold fields
  • digger with a pan
Synonyms
  • gold miner

    the modern standard term for someone who mines gold, whether historically or today

  • prospector

    a person who searches for valuable minerals, often before any mine is set up

  • forty-niner

    a specific term for a digger who went to California in the 1849 gold rush

Grammar Patterns

a digger

diggers

Usage Note

This sense is strongly associated with 19th-century gold rushes (California 1849, Australia 1851, Klondike 1896). Modern gold miners are usually called miners, not diggers.

Common Mistakes

She is a digger who works in a modern gold mine.
She is a miner who works in a modern gold mine.
digger for gold refers to historical, small-scale mining, not modern industrial operations.

4. a term of pride and respect for a soldier from Australia, most closely linked to

4.nounB2
Definition

a term of pride and respect for a soldier from Australia, most closely linked to those who served on the battlefields of World War I from 1914 to 1918.

Example

The museum has a special exhibit about the Diggers who fought at Gallipoli in 1915.

capitalized: Diggers + Gallipoli campaign

Each Anzac Day, Australians honour the Diggers who fought in World War I.

Synonyms
  • Australian soldier

    the standard, neutral term for any member of the Australian army

  • Anzac

    a soldier from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli; broader than Digger as it includes New Zealanders

Grammar Patterns

the Diggers

a Digger

Usage Note

When referring to Australian soldiers, the word is often capitalized as Digger. The term carries strong cultural pride and is most frequently used on Anzac Day (April 25) and in discussions of Australian military history. It is not commonly used for modern Australian soldiers, who are usually called soldiers or defence personnel.

Common Mistakes

My cousin is a Digger in the army today.
My cousin is a soldier in the Australian army.
Digger is historically tied to WWI and WWII soldiers, not modern service members.

Word family

  • dig
    verbA2
  • dig
    nounB1
  • digs
    nounB2
  • digging
    nounB1
  • dug
    verbA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Digger is the general everyday term for any vehicle used for digging. Excavator is the more technical name for the common large machine with a rotating cab and a long arm with a bucket at the end. A backhoe is a smaller machine with a bucket on the back of a tractor — it is good for digging narrow trenches. A bulldozer has a wide metal blade at the front and pushes earth forward rather than scooping it up. For example, you use an excavator or a digger to dig a large hole for a building foundation. You use a backhoe to dig a trench for pipes in a residential street. You use a bulldozer to clear land by pushing trees and soil out of the way. In casual conversation, people often say digger for all three; in construction and engineering, the more precise terms are preferred.

diggerexcavatorbackhoebulldozer

Common collocations

Nouns

  • hole
  • ground
  • earth
  • soil
  • trench
  • foundation
  • gold
  • tunnel

Adverbs

  • deep
  • carefully
  • steadily

Phrases

  • digger for hire
  • digger operator
  • digger driver

Prepositions

  • for
  • through
  • into

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Digger comes from the verb dig (first recorded in Old English as *dicgan* or related to *dīc* meaning 'ditch') plus the suffix -er, which means 'a person or thing that does something.' So a digger is literally 'one that digs.' The word has been used since the 1400s. The Australian soldier sense appeared during World War I because soldiers spent much of their time digging trenches, and fellow soldiers began calling them 'Diggers' as a term of respect and shared hardship. The gold miner sense dates from the 19th-century gold rushes.