badg·er / ˈbajər/ • n. 1. a heavily built omnivorous nocturnal mammal of the weasel family, typically having a gray and black coat. Several genera and species include the North American Taxidea taxus, with a white stripe on the head. 2. (Badger) inf. a native of Wisconsin.• v. [tr.] ask (someone) repeatedly and annoyingly for something; pester: they badgered him about the deals.

badger the verbal sense of badger to mean ‘repeatedly and annoyingly ask someone to do something’ probably originates from badger-baiting, a sport in which dogs draw a badger from its sett and kill it, illegal in the UK since 1830.

In Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (1908), Mr Badger is the taciturn but authoritative leader of the group of animals who reform the boastful Toad (see toad).


Badger State an informal name for Wisconsin.

badger Burrowing, nocturnal mammal that lives in Eurasia, North America, and Africa. It has a stocky body with short legs and tail. Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) have grey bodies with black-and-white striped heads. American badgers (Taxidea taxus) are smaller and have grey-reddish fur with a white head stripe. The honey badger lives in Africa. Body length: 42–90cm (17–35in); weight: 10–20kg (22–44lb). Family Mustelidae.

badger XVI (also †bageard XVI, †badgerd XVI–XVII). perh. f. prec. + -ARD, with allusion to the white mark on the animal's forehead (but badge is not recorded in this sense).

badger (Meles, Taxidea) See MUSTELIDAE.