digger

Meaning

Noun

• A large piece of machinery that digs holes or trenches; an excavator.
• A tool for digging.
• A spade (playing card).
• One who digs.
• A gold miner, one who digs for gold.
• An informal nickname for a friend; used as a term of endearment.
• An Australian soldier.

Origin

• From Middle English dyggar, equivalent to dig + -er. In the sense of "Australian soldier" Attributed to the considerable time that soldiers spent digging trenches during World War I.