subs. (old cant).—1. A door: also JIG, JEGGER, and GYGER. Fr. une fendante; une guimbarde; une lourde. It. diorta; introibo; turlante.
1567. HARMAN, A Caveat or Warening for Common Cursetors [E.E.T.S., 1869], p. 85. Dup the GYGGER, and maund that is bene shyp.
1610. ROWLANDS, Martin Mark-all, p. 38 [Hunterian Club’s Reprint, 1874], s.v. GIGGER, a doore.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v.
1724. E. COLES, English Dictionary, s.v.
1754. POULTER, The Discoveries of John Poulter, p. 34. Nap my kelp whilst I stall at the JEGGER.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1821. D. HAGGART, Life, p. 83. The outer JIGGER which opens from the yard.
1839. W. H. AINSWORTH, Jack Sheppard, p. 20. ‘Help!’ ejaculated Wood, renewing his cries. ‘Arrest!’ ‘JIGGER closed!’ shouted a hoarse voice in reply.
1848. DUNCOMBE, Sinks of London Laid Open, p. 106. Dub the JIGGER, fasten the door.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, i. 342. ‘Such men are always left outside the JIGGER (door) of the houses.’
2. (old).—A doorkeeper; a SCREW (q.v.); a jailor or turnkey: also JIGGER-DUBBER. Fr. duc de guiche. [In Hants = a policeman.]
1749. The Humours of the Fleet [quoted in J. ASHTON’S The Fleet, p. 281]. The Door-keeper, and he who opens and shuts the Jigg, is call’d the JIGGER.
1781. G. PARKER, A View of Society, ii. 69. JIGGER-DUBBER is a term applied to jailors or Turnkeys, JIGGER being flash or cant for door.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc., s.v. JIGGER-DUBBER—a JIGGER is a key, and with the adjunct DUBBER, means turnkey to a prison.
1828. G. SMEETON, Doings in London. ‘Humours of the Fleet.’
| Near Fleet’s commodious market’s miry verge, | |
| This celebrated prison stands, compact and large, | |
| Where, by the JIGGER’S more than magic charm, | |
| Kept from the power of doing good or harm. |
1888. J. RUNCIMAN, The Chequers, 183. One of the JIGGERS says one thing, and one of them says another thing.
3. (old).—See quot.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc., s.v. JIGGER-DUBBER—a JIGGER is a key.
4. (old).—A whipping-post.
1708. JOHN HALL, Memoirs, etc., s.v.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
5. (old).—A secret still. JIGGER-STUFF = illicitly distilled spirits; JIGGER-WORKER = a vendor of the same. Hence, also, a drink of whiskey.
1823. BADCOCK (‘Jon Bee’), Dictionary of the Turf, etc., s.v. JIGGER-DUBBER. … The JIGGER is a private still.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, i. 429. Two, and sometimes three, female lace-sellers are also ‘JIGGER-WORKERS.’ They carry about their persons pint bladders of ‘stuff,’ or ‘JIGGER-STUFF’ (spirit made at an illicit still). ‘I used to supply them with it until lately,’ one street-trader told me, ‘from a friend that kept a ‘JIGGER,’ and a tidy sale some of them had.
1853. Diogenes, ii. 199. JIGGER-GIN will kill body and brain faster than arrack punch or Sangaree.
1886. Judy, 4 Aug., p. 58. He imbibed stupendous quantities of JIGGERED gin, dog’s nose, and Paddy’s eye-water.
6. (billiards).—The ‘bridge’ or ‘rest’ for the cue when a ball is beyond arm’s length.
7. (theatrical).—The curtain or RAG (q.v.).
8. (military).—A guard-room. Fr. la boite. Also, specifically as in quot.
1882. Fortnightly Review, xxxi. 798. Communicating with the GIGGER, an interviewing chamber (in Newgate) where felons, on payment, saw their friends.
9. (old).—A fiddlestick. [JIGGER (or JIG) is also applied to many small mechanical contrivances or handy tools.]
10. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see MONOSYLLABLE.
11. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms, see CREAMSTICK and PRICK.
12. (old).—A shifty fellow; a trickster.
1675. COTTON, Burlesque upon Burlesque: or, The Scoffer Scofft, in Wks. (1725), p. 268.
| Ven. And (Paris) when thou com’st to bedding, | |
| Oh, how I’ll trip it at thy wedding! | |
| Par. Nay you’re a JIGGER we all know; | |
| But if you should deceive me now! |
Verb. (common).—1. A quot.
1888. Detroit Free Press, 22 Dec. I’ll JIGGER (bet) you ’un knows roots from tree-tops.
2. (colloquial).—To shake; to jerk.
1869. The Quarterly Review, cxxvi. 350. Many is the fish who has JIGGERED himself free by this method.
NOT WORTH A JIGGER, phr. (common).—Valueless.
1861. Punch, xl. 145. The churches here AIN’T WORTH A JIGGER—nor, not half-a-JIGGER.
