auger

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tool with a helical cutting bit used for boring holes in wood, soil, ice, or another material

   She turned the auger steadily until the hole passed through the timber.

2. 2
   noun

   a long flexible coil used to clear a blockage from a pipe

   The plumber fed an auger into the drain to break up the obstruction.

3. 3
   verb

   to bore or drill with an auger

   The crew will auger holes for the fence posts before the ground freezes.

A rebracketing of Middle English a nauger as an auger. Nauger came from Old English nafogar, literally 'nave spear,' a compound of nafu, 'wheel hub,' and gar, 'spear'; the earliest tool bored holes in wheel hubs. The same loss of an initial n after the article also occurred in adder and apron.

Topics