| 释义 |
niggern.adj. Origin: Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item; modelled on a Latin lexical item. Etymon: neger n. Etymology: Probably an alteration of neger n., after classical Latin niger (see niger n.1); compare earlier Nigro n., Nigrite n.1 Compare post-classical Latin niger black person (1582 in a Spanish colonial source). Compare also Swedish †niger (1758), probably a borrowing from English (although this may perhaps represent a borrowing of neger n.).Some early examples of the form niger (especially in learned use) may perhaps represent a direct reborrowing of classical Latin niger black (see niger n.1). Forms in -gg- (see β. forms) are rare before the 19th cent., and the prevalence of a pronunciation with /ɪ/ in the first syllable is therefore hard to establish. However, it seems likely that the form niger (the preferred form up to the end of the 18th cent.) is intended to represent the same pronunciation (as sporadic later examples of this form clearly are). The resurgence of the form nigga (plural often niggaz ) and other forms without final -r in late 20th-cent. use (especially in representations of urban African-American speech) is probably due to its deliberate adoption by some speakers as a distinct word, associated with neutral or positive senses (especially senses A. 1c, A. 4, A. 5, and A. 7); compare quot. 2001 at sense A. 7. Compare gangsta n. and adj. The word was initially used as a neutral term, and only began to acquire a derogatory connotation from the mid 18th cent. onwards (compare sense A. 1b). In standard English usage the word Negro n. had already become the usual neutral term by the end of the 17th cent. For coincidence of the word in some dialects with niggard n. compare γ forms and etymological note at that entry. With the phrase to work like a nigger (see Phrases 1) compare French travailler comme un nègre (1811). The phrase nigger in the woodpile (see Phrases 2b) is said to derive from an incident in the U.S. in the time before the American Civil War when a group of escaped slaves who had been conveyed along the Underground Railroad to Pultneyville, New York State, with a view to crossing Lake Ontario into Canada were enabled to make the final stage from a warehouse in which they were hidden to a boat by means of woodpiles set up across the wharf through which a concealed passage had been constructed (see further N.Y. Folklore Q. (1958) 14 16–25). This word is one of the most controversial in English, and is liable to be considered offensive or taboo in almost all contexts (even when used as a self-description). A. n. I. Senses referring to people. 1. A dark-skinned person of sub-Saharan African origin or descent; = Negro n. 1a. This term is strongly racially offensive when used by a white person in reference to a black person. In written Black English and written representations of spoken Black English, however, there are usually not the same negative connotations. Recently the term has been reclaimed by some black speakers and used with positive connotations in various senses (esp. in the form nigga: see note in etymology, and senses A. 1c, A. 4, and A. 5). However, even among black speakers, use of the word is problematic because of its potential to give offence, as is clear from the following, from a black speaker:1995 N.Y. Times 14 Jan. i. 7 The prosecutor, his voice trembling, added that the ‘N-word’ was so vile that he would not utter it. ‘It's the filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language,’ Mr. Darden said. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun] 1577 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara (new ed.) 389 The Massagetes bordering vpon the Indians, and the Nigers of Aethiop [Sp. los negros en Ethiopia], bearing witnesse. 1584 R. Scot vii. xv. 153 A skin like a Niger. 1608 A. Marlowe Let. 22 June in (1896) I. 10 The King and People [of ‘Serro Leona’] Niggers, simple and harmless. 1636 W. Pitt & J. Downham Let. 16 Sept. in (1911) 292 Have granted passages to a Moor and three ‘nigors’. 1656 Duchess of Newcastle 237 The Priest which came to fetch him forth, saw him thus drest, never seeing hair before, for they had none but wooll, and very short as Nigers have. 1676 S. Sewall 1 July (1973) I. 18 Jethro, his Niger, was then taken. a1704 T. Brown Lett. from Dead (new ed.) in (1707) II. ii. 121 A manner that discover'd he had an ascendency over the rest of the immortal Nigres. 1760 G. Wallace Princ. Law Scotl. in (1760) ii. 265/1 Set the Nigers free, and, in a few generations, this vast and fertile continent would be crouded with inhabitants. 1787 R. Burns Ordination iv, in (1971) 171 How graceless Ham leugh at his Dad, Which made Canaan a niger [rhyme vigour, rigour, tiger]. 1788 S. Low iii. i. 27 Toupee. By gar, I get de satisfaction! Humphry. He talks as crooked as a Guinea niger. 1833 C. Williams 184 Some say poor niger hab no shoule. Vel dat I dont know, but dis I know, I got something in my body make me feel tumfortable. 1867 H. Latham 127 Niggers (they are not ‘coloured persons’ yet in the South) are most artful flatterers. 1897 29 333/1 What is wanted is a genuine nigger—not a colored person, or an Afro-American, or a darkey—and one who has been there before [i.e. game fishing in Florida]. 1931 (U.S. ed.) Dec. 126/1 You might think it funny for me, a white man, to say a nigger is the best preacher I ever heard. 1948 G. Greene ii. i. 179 A clerk knocked and said, ‘There's a nigger for you, Wilson, with a note.’ 1980 R. Rhodes i. i. 20 The Kaffir whore and the half-breed toto and the faithful nigger. 1993 in (1996) III. 789/2 I've heard livestock men speak in admiration of a black cowboy and noted rider in the Jordan Valley country simply as ‘Nigger Bill’. ?1775 in F. Moore (1856) 101 The rebel clowns, oh! what a sight! Too awkward was their figure. 'Twas yonder stood a pious wight, And here and there a nigger. 1811 Ld. Byron in (1878) I. 195 The rest of the world—niggers and what not. 1818 H. B. Fearon 46 The bad conduct and inferior nature of niggars (negroes). a1849 H. Coleridge (1851) I. 164 A similar error has turned Othello..into a rank woolly-pated, thick-lipped nigger. 1861 H. A. Jacobs vii. 59 Do you suppose that I will have you tending my children with the children of that nigger? 1931 D. L. Sayers i. 11 Waters,..like all Englishmen, was ready enough to admire and praise all foreigners except dagoes and niggers. 1936 M. Mitchell 401 ‘You're a fool nigger, and the worst day's work Pa ever did was to buy you,’ said Scarlett slowly... There, she thought, I've said ‘nigger’ and Mother wouldn't like that at all. 1948 G. Greene i. i. 3 I hate the place. I hate the people. I hate the bloody niggers. Mustn't call 'em that you know. 1989 (Nexis) 16 July d1 A belligerent [police] officer..snarling at me..‘I don't care who you are, nigga, get the hell out of here or I'll arrest you.’ 1992 7 June (Mag.) 4/1 If a white guy gonna call me a nigger, he wants to fight. 2001 6 Aug. 21/1 Farther back in the crowd, William..heard a cop say, ‘We'll beat the hell out of you niggers.’ 1831 H. J. Finn 88 ‘You be right dere,’ observed Sambo, ‘..else what fur he go more 'mong niggers den de white trash?’ 1838 R. M. Bird I. 238 Wanted to run, massa, but no more run than a barn-door; stuck fast in the mud—could'nt move—all over with niggah! 1848 G. Lippard ii. i. 225 For sixteen—seventeen year, dis nigga watch his time. 1884 ‘M. Twain’ viii. 72 Dey wuz a nigger name' Bob, dat had ketched a wood-flat. c1937 in N. R. Yetman 257 A nigger by name o' Enoch Golden married us. 1949 B. A. Botkin p. xxiii In turning his laughter on himself as well as the whites, the Negro has taken over the objectionable word ‘nigger’ (though not ‘darky’) and made it a term of praise or blame. 1971 G. Mitchell 170 Mr. Walter knocked that nigger just as flat, and that nigger knocked Mr. Walter just as flat. 1987 ‘Schoolly D’ Sat. Night (song) in L. A. Stanley (1992) 280 He rapped so hard that the nigger saw smoke He lit up a cheeba and they both took a toke. 2000 ‘DMX’ in 13 Apr. 90/1 I wasn't the biggest nigga in the world. I couldn't beat everybody, but..my rep superseded me. 1834 F. Lieber 90 A negro boy under my window calls a lad of the same race, by way of reproach, ‘nigger’. 1866 July 79 When they call each other ‘nigger’, the familiar term of opprobrium is applied with all the malice of a sting. 1926 C. Van Vechten 26 I'm..tired to death of all these Niggers downstairs. [Note] While this informal epithet is freely used by Negroes among themselves, not only as a term of opprobrium, but also actually as a term of endearment, its employment by a white person is always fiercely resented. 1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer i. viii. 61 They are outcasts, unwanted even by other Negroes who came before them. These citified blacks resent the new influx and call them ‘niggers’. 1971 Apr. 56 Who the hell you think, nigger? 1998 8 Dec. 51/1 My son was killed by seven black-ass niggers! 2. society > society and the community > social class > the common people > socially inferior person > [noun] > of any race the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person > poor person of any colour 1835 R. M. Bird I. xi. 154 Wa' to been married soon, but faw the white nigga Gilbert, what cut the Colonel's throat! 1871 E. Eggleston iv. 52 ‘Ole Miss Meanses' white nigger’, as some of them called her, in allusion to her slavish life. 1883 Aug. 571/1 I wasn't born to make a nigger of myself in a free country. 1922 C. T. Campion tr. A. Schweitzer x. 164 Without this safeguard he [sc. the missionary] is soon in danger of becoming a nigger, as it is called here. 1974 J. Willwerth xii. vii. 177 A nigger around here don't mean a black dude, you dig? It's a low-class dude who ain't going' [sic] nowhere—that's the true meaning of the word. 1977 R. P. Rettig et al. vii. 176 Rettig: Somebody has to wash clothes. Manny: You're right! Society..needs niggers, and they'll take 'em where they find 'em, regardless of color. 1840 W. G. Simms I. v. 85 They're [sc. white officers of justice] afraid of me, the niggers, and you see I aint afraid of them. 1861 A. G. Frick Let. 14 Feb. in H. Holzer (1993) x. 341 Abe Lincoln..goddam you..you are nothing but a goddam Black nigger.] 1884 1 Dec. 8/1 When the ‘jigger’ [sc. a police officer] does come along the ‘niggers’, as the railroad men call their tormentors irrespective of color, are perched upon the fence like the rail birds, ready to call names and throw stones or fight him face to face. 1942 Z. N. Hurston 49 ‘Don't be a nigger,’ he would say to me over and over. ‘Niggers lie and lie.’ [Note] The word Nigger used in this sense does not mean race. It means a weak, contemptible person of any race. 1989 10 Aug. 44/3 Let's start with one of the verses [of the song ‘One in a Million’], ‘Police and niggers, that's right/Get outta my way.’.. I [sc. W. Axl Rose, songwriter] used the word nigger because it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word nigger doesn't necessarily mean black. 1994 ‘Nas’ in 19 May 64/2 Like I could tell Mr. Rudy Giuliani, ‘Yo, bitch, fucking bitch-ass nigger.’ 1994 G. Smitherman 167 ‘A group of Brothas was buggin out, drinkin the forty ounce, goin the nigga route,’ a clearly negative use of the word, meaning, Some Black males were on the street, partying, getting drunk off malt liquor, and acting the loud, vulgar stereotype of a nigga. 1997 C. Rock i. 17 The niggers have got to go. Everytime black people want to have a good time, niggers mess it up. You can't do anything without some ignorant-ass niggers fucking it up... Can't go to a movie the first week it opens. Why? Because niggers are shooting at the screen... I love black people, but I hate niggers. 3. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > non-white person > [noun] 1843 T. C. Haliburton (1846) 180 Heathen Indgean niggers. 1857 Ld. Dufferin 251 This relationship with Polynesian Niggers, the native genealogists would probably scout with indignation. 1869 P. A. Taylor 11 What can you supply me a hundred niggers [sc. Kanakas] for? 1899 in J. M. Merrill 251 We came here [i.e. in the Philippines] to lick the niggers. 1919 P. B. Kyne 119 On the island o' Aranuka, right under the Hakatuea volcano. There was some strappin' big buck native niggers there that would fetch $300 a head. 1934 G. B. Shaw ii. 70 Pandranath: you are only a silly nigger pretending to be an English gentleman. 1992 N. Morris 9 He's trying to suck up to Veraswami for some reason... He must know we can't let niggers in. 1994 June 164/2 The tawny sailing bums who frequent the international yachting circuit are known derisively as ‘boat niggers’. the world > people > ethnicities > New Zealand and Australian indigenous peoples > Australian Aboriginal peoples > [noun] 1845 G. de C. Lefroy in C. T. Stannage (1981) 95 It is shocking..to see a fine young fellow cut off by the odious detestable niggers. 1891 7 Nov. 13/5 The natives of Queensland are nearly always spoken of as ‘niggers’ by those who are brought most directly in contact with them. 1915 N. Duncan 99 ‘Find a nigger,’ said our bushman..‘and you'll get water.’ 1941 I. L. Idriess xxii. 169 The cranky nigger who was on the job broke the only shovel. 1959 E. Webb 14 No one else called me a farting nigger; at least, not to my face. 1986 Jan. 76/3 The Duncans have enjoyed so much success they have earned the epithet ‘uptown niggers’ from other Aboriginal people. the world > people > ethnicities > New Zealand and Australian indigenous peoples > Maori > [noun] 1858 A. S. Atkinson in (1960) I. 175 We heard that Bishop Selwyn..thinks there is a fair chance of collision with the ‘niggers’. 1868 R. Taylor 111 The Maori is constantly being called a nigger and a black fellow to his face, and viewed as an inferior being. 1911 7 Jan. 1 Heavens above, we filch the nigger's land and then we make an alien of him. 1984 28 Mar. 7 Later a girl by the campfire said ‘why don't you niggers do a haka and...off’[ellipsis in text]. the world > people > person > [noun] 1848 G. F. A. Ruxton Life in Far West v, in Oct. 434/1 What does the niggur say? 1850 L. H. Garrard 161 They..pick up a beaver trap to ask what it is—just shows whar the niggurs had their bringin' up. 1851 M. Reid II. viii. 119 Oncet on a time, this niggur [sc. the speaker] chawed a varmint that wan't much sweeter. 1925 L. R. Harris in A. Dundes (1973) 563/2 Howdy niggahs,..how's you all dis mawnin'. 1964 K. Kesey 92 The old nigger don't hear so clear. 1995 P. Bourgois i. 42 You're a good nigga'. See you tomorrow. 2000 P. Beatty xiii. 171 Look at Ben Franklin. Tuffy, holding a starched one-hundred-dollar bill up to his face, was scrutinizing the old statesman's portrait. Nigger look upset. the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend 1884 J. C. Harris in Nov. 121/1 I say ter myse'f, maybe my nigger man mought be some'rs 'roun'.] 1884 J. A. Harrison Negro Eng. in 7 266 To tu'n er nigger right loose, to give a man free play. 1937 C. B. Himes Night's for Cryin' in Jan. 64/3 A passing brownskin answered to the call of ‘Babe’, paused before her ‘nigger’ in saddle-backed stance, arms akimbo. 1960 J. A. Williams (1996) xxi 163 Obie, I got to be with you, you know that. You know you're my nigger, man. 1965 C. Brown 140 This is my main nigger, my number one nigger, and anybody who fucks wit him, it's just as well as if they'd came and fucked wit me. 1995 ‘Q-Tip’ in ‘Mobb Deep’ Drink away Pain (Situations) (transcribed from song) in Tommy Hil [sc. Tommy Hilfiger, a white fashion designer] was my nigga And others couldn't figure How me and Hilfiger used to move through with vigor. 1999 2 v. 66/1 Kim is my nigga, she's just so understanding. 2001 23 Apr. 62/1 He told me his friends had pulled him out [of the fight], he hadn't done nothin'. ‘They didn't want me gettin' in no trouble,’ he said. ‘They my niggas.’ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > manipulation or exploitation > one who is exploited 1941 W. Lewis 137 Since there are no niggers here, they had to create niggers. The poor are the niggers in this country. 1963 H. S. Thompson Let. 6 Nov. in (1997) 411 My earlier concept of The Nigger. 1972 J. Lennon & Y. Ono (song) Woman is the nigger of the world. 1979 W. Kennedy v. 120 It was the church where the Italians went to preserve their souls in a city where Italians were the niggers and micks of a new day. 1987 R. Doyle 9 The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads... An' Dubliners are the niggers of Ireland. The culchies [sc. rural residents] have fuckin' everythin'. An' the northside Dubliners are the niggers o' Dublin. 1998 J. Bosso Hit is Hit (HBO TV shooting script) 28 in 1st Ser. (O.E.D. Archive) You're talking to the wrong white man my friend. My people [sc. Jewish people] were the white man's nigger when yours [sc. black people] were still painting their faces and chasing zebras. 1965 C. Brown iv. 137 As far as I'm concerned, that paddy boy is twice the nigger any of you cats might think you are or might ever try to be.] 1970 R. D. Abrahams vi. 135 Hippies and other recent Bohemian groups have openly proclaimed themselves ‘white niggers’ by which they seem to mean that, like blacks, they represent an alternative to the life style of majority-group American culture. 1977 G. Smitherman iii. 62 Nigguh... Sometimes it means culturally black, identifying with and sharing the values and experiences of black people. 1977 G. Smitherman iii. 62 At a black rally, when the Sister shouted out, ‘Nigguhs is beautiful, baby,’ she was referring to ‘shonuff nigguhs’, as contrasted to Negroes, who aspire to white middle-class values. 1992 R. Gooden & O. Brackens Mnniiggaah (song) in L. A. Stanley (1992) 143 I'm a nigga But that is just the way I choose to act It ain't got nothin' to do with bein' black... Where I'm from there's a lot of white niggas. 2000 Nov. 194/1 If you're [sc. a black woman] walking down a dark street at night,..who do you want by your side: an African-American or a nigga? 2001 Apr. 51/2 In private conversations among blacks, Clinton is ghetto, a nigga (not nigger, mind you)—terms that say: He is one of us. II. Other senses. 8. British regional. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Symphta or Phytophaga Sessiliventres > family Tenthredinidae > athalia centifolia (turnip-sawfly) > larva of 1840 E. Blyth et al. 584 Athalia centifoliæ is extremely destructive to turnips, its larva being known under the name of the Nigger, or Black Jack. 1844 H. Stephens III. 774 The larvæ are known in different parts of the country by the names of black caterpillar, blacks, nigger, canker, etc. 1874 J. Lubbock i. 7 To this group belongs the nigger, or black caterpillar of the turnip. 1932 E. Step 197 The young larvæ are at first whitish with two black spots on the head; but when nearing full size their upper parts become black, which earned for them among garden folk the name of ‘Nigger’ and ‘Black Jack’. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Diversicornia > family Coccinellidae > member of (lady-bird) > larva of 1855 J. C. Morton II. 120 Nigger, the name of lady-bird larvæ in hop grounds. 1975 Sept. 480/1 Have you seen any Subcoccinella Vigintiquatuor Puntata lately? Most gardeners call them niggers..these are the scientific and popular names of the tiny ladybird larvae. the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Echinodermata > [noun] > subphylum Eleutherozoa > class Holothurioidea > member of (sea-cucumber) 1855 J. Ogilvie Nigger, a species of holothuria, so called by the Cornish fishermen. It is very common in deep water off the Deadmen. 1993 B. E. Picton 68 Holothuria forskali delle Chiaje, 1841. Nigger, Cotton-spinner. 9. U.S.society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment for moving ship over bar or shoal > [noun] > winch or capstan 1867 J. A. Hosmer 58 The boat..struck the bar; they then began to work with the spars and nigger, and at two o'clock we got off. 1875 E. H. Knight II. 1526/2 Nigger (Steam-engine), a steam-engine employed in hoisting; especially on shipboard and on the Western and Southern rivers. 1878 J. H. Beadle 378 Then oaths, spars, ‘nigger-engine’ and all the other available machinery were set in operation. 1882 Jan. 175/2 One of the ‘nigger’ engines is suddenly called into service to tighten a two-inch rope, or wind up a discarded cable. 1942 R. A. Hereford 114 The other end of the rope was secured to the capstan,..which was operated by a small engine called the ‘nigger’. 1890 Nigger,..a strong iron-bound timber with sharp teeth or spikes protruding from its front face, forming part of the machinery of a sawmill. 1900 85 103/2 ‘Carriages’, bright with red and green lanterns..rush to and fro, seizing the logs as they come from the ‘kickers’ and ‘niggers’. 1910 S. E. White i. v. 32 When the car had flown back to its starting-point, the ‘nigger’ rose from obscurity to turn the log half-way round. 1929 XIV. 482/1 A steam or air ‘nigger’ (mechanically operated steel arms) helps to place the log in the proper position. 1969 L. G. Sorden 80 Nigger, a fast-moving power arm on the log carriage in a sawmill that turned a log for sawing. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > discontinuity or unconformity > [noun] > fault 1886 15 May 308 The consequence of neglect might be that what the workmen call ‘a nigger’ would get into the armature, and burn it so as to destroy its service. the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > dark brown 1914 4 July p. v (advt.) Soft Taffeta Hat..In Black,..Nigger, Mole, and White. 1917 3 Nov. 139/2 Nigger or, as it is now called, ‘Zulu’, is also to be seen. 1929 D. Drage 20 The brown-red background, with nigger and navy outlines, a deep cream ground in the border, and small swastikas. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > filming > filming equipment > [noun] > masks or screens 1925 29 Nov. b6 Nigger, a composition board on a rack placed between the lights and the camera so as to keep the light from striking the lens. 1934 31 Mar. 12/1 The film world has a colourful compilation of expressions unlike those in other walks of life. ‘Niggers’ are not men of colour, but blackboards used to ‘kill’ unwanted reflections from the powerful lights. 1937 A. Buchanan iii. 52 ‘Niggers’ are wooden oblong screens used to ‘nigger-off’ or shield light from faces, or shadows on walls, and so ‘Her face needs a nigger’ is not such an alarming statement as it sounds to the uninitiated. 1960 O. Skilbeck 89 Nigger, an adjustable Mask on a stand, used on the Floor to shield the camera from, or to achieve effects with, lights. 1976 B. Armstrong 64 Nigger, a form of flag. the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Girellidae 1927 A. Wright 38 The big catch of lively ‘niggers’ splashing in a rock-bound pool behind him. 1948 F. D. Marshall 65 The ‘darkie’ or ‘nigger’..is a most worthy opponent. 1962 ‘N. Culotta’ 76 We were fishing for niggers. The official name for niggers, or blackfish, is ‘luderick’. They are listed as luderick on the monthly returns, but fishermen call them niggers. 1983 30 Sept. 28/4 Brisbane Water has been best of the estuaries, with bream, niggers and mullet. B. adj. ( attributive). the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective] the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective] > inhabited by 1689 in (1967) 42 160 One niggor Boy. 1825 J. Neal I. xiii. 413 ‘I'm proud of it, our Edith.’—‘Proud of it, cousin!’—Aye; there's no nigger blood, in us. 1833 J. Neal I. 66 If there's a drop of nigger-blood in 'em, they'll always show it in their temper. 1836 D. Crockett vii. 97 Nigger women are knocked down by the auctioneer, and knocked up by the purchaser. a1845 R. H. Barham Brothers of Birchington in (1847) 3rd Ser. 263 Their nigger inhabitants [sc. devils] shook in their hoofs. 1926 H. Crane 8 July (1965) 265 A dozen odd sick and wailing nigger females below decks. 1946 K. Tennant (1947) Prol. 6 No grandson of mine,..is going to be brought up by them thieving, godless, nigger Detwinters. 1970 J. Cortez in O. Coombs 17 Love Lives And I wanta taste myself inside Mmmmmmmm that pure nigguh pain. 1975 C. Dennis 208 You haven't been listening to this nigger bitch all day. I have! 1994 P. Baker xvi. 186 Well. If it ain't my friend the nigger supercop, Mr Riley. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [adjective] > contemptible society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [adjective] > racist > used by, suitable for, or characteristic of 1859 M. Pattison in Jan. 119/2 It is in perpetual conflict with the rules of good Latinity,..partly from the addle-headed understanding of the characters supposed to write this nigger Latin. 1901 in S. Dennison (1982) 408 But I saw when you came in you was blin' from niggah gin. 1921 in H. Cannon (1985) 19 I was suckled by a grizzly and was weaned on nigger gin. 1930 W. Faulkner 190 She would maybe buy a cheap comb or a bottle of nigger toilet water. 1953 15 Aug. (B ed.) 10/6 John Kissel..received a nigger offer from the Ottawa Rough Riders, and accepted it. 1978 J. Updike (1979) vii. 258 In my student need across the seas I had held a variety of lowly jobs—‘nigger work’, in the friendly phrase of the lily-white elite of Franchise. 1988 in (1996) III. 790/1 I heard the phrase ‘nigger brick’ from a Houston heart surgeon who was showing me an old post office, the exterior of which was finished in tin painted to look like brick. Phrases Now offensive. society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work hard or toil 1803 J. Davis 383 I..worked like a new negur.] 1836 C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron in 23 July 186/1 I have toiled night and day, I've worked like a nigger, and more than any nigger. 1861 ‘G. Eliot’ 13 Apr. (1954) III. 404 Charles..will..work like a nigger at his music. 1880 ‘M. Twain’ iii. 40 He laid into his work like a nigger. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ xxvi All four used to work like niggers. 1902 J. Mathew 90 The next to sing was Dick the digger, A man who ‘grafted’ like a nigger. 1920 R. Fry 20 June (1972) II. 481 I have worked like a nigger to arrange it [sc. an exhibition] well. 1939 (Federal Writers' Project, U.S.) 5 The next year I worked like a nigger and that fall John bought me a coat suit. 1955 ‘Miss Read’ xv. 101 If this was the way to get to Caxley High School with its untold joys..why, then she'd work like a nigger and get there! 1997 No. 73. 86 [He] upbraided a journalist who had asked him to work harder with the rhetorical question, ‘Do you expect me to work like a nigger? I am not a Negro.’ P2. a. U.S. Now rare. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [noun] > hidden tendency or activity 1850 4 Sept. 2/6 The majority of the papers, however, think that there ‘is a nigger in the fence’ somewhere. 1888 B. Harte i. iii. 90 Ef he aint scooped up by Jenny Bradley he'll guess there's a nigger in the fence somewhere. 1911 H. Quick xi. 286 He's always looking for a nigger in the fence. 1923 J. Conrad 3 Jan. (2008) VIII. 6 May it [sc. a ray of light] not be extinguished by the poisonous breath of the well-known ‘nigger in the fence’ who has been the curse of my existence for years. b. Originally U.S.the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [noun] > hidden tendency or activity the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > instance or cause of > hidden 1843 D. Emmett (sheet music) 2 Nigger on de wood-pile barkin like a dog.] 1852 in (1942) 11 235 No ‘nigger in the wood pile’ here..; white men are at the bottom of this speculation. 1876 4 Aug. 5153/1 If some one should say..that there was some ‘nigger in the wood-pile’, some ‘cat in the bag’, some motive to actuate me. 1897 18 Feb. App. 61/1 Like a great many others ignorant of facts, he finds ‘a nigger in the wood pile’ where there is neither wood pile nor nigger. 1911 W. Wilson in 11 Aug. 944 If you go through the schedules you will find some nigger in every wood pile. 1930 24 Sept. 7/6 Unless..there is a nigger in the wood pile,..the shares ought to be worth a mild flutter at round 8s. 6d. 1952 A. Christie xii. 109 Well now, let's have your point of view. Who's the nigger in the woodpile? The G.I. husband? 1960 16 Jan. 8 This seems to be the nigger in the woodpile—the woodpile being an industrial recovery and activity remarkable by any standard. 1990 11 Jan. b1/1 He suggested to a racially mixed audience in Brooklyn that critics of government were ‘always looking for a nigger in the woodpile’. Compounds All of these compounds are offensive. C1. General attributive. 1689 in (1967) 42 160 One niggor Boy. 1825 J. Neal III. 207 Nobody there, I guess, but a nigger boy. 1899 Nov. 436/1 I seed it wid my own eyes, how you go flirtin' en' flouncin' en' coopein' 'round dem nigger boys at dat meetin'-house las' Sunday night. 1990 J. C. Oates i. vi. 51 Nobody ever needed a diploma for carpentry or bricklaying..nigger-boy vocational-school shit like that. ?1850 T. Carlyle in Apr. 302 ‘Sweet, blighted lilies’,—as the American epitaph on the nigger child has it. 1878 Oct. 778/2 Tom Terrell had to endure many a gibe as to his daughter having become a teacher of ‘nigger children’. 1947 25 272/1 Do you know how that man made his money? He made it with broken-down mules and nigger children. 1997 (Nexis) 13 June c2 Someone at a mall pointed to her mother and said ‘look at her with those nigger children.’ 1970 J. B. Cole in A. Chapman (1972) iii. 493 When blacks refer to ‘Nigger culture’, they often very explicitly speak of soul and style. 2002 (Nexis) 19 Feb. 1 Jazz-dancing is the product of the dirty low nigger culture of America. 1834 3 445 Although mighty smart, and a mighty smart chance, mighty big, and mighty little was excellent ‘nigger’ dialect, yet it was not so refined, as an orator might use. 1979 A. Walker I love myself when I am Laughing 2 in (1982) 12 403 That ‘comical nigger “dialect”’ that has been laughed at, denied, ignored, or ‘improved’ so. 1833 9 June 53/1 (headline) The planter's scheme for ‘Nigger’ Emancipation. a1881 T. Carlyle in (1883) July 132/2 Their universal suffrages, their nigger emancipations, sluggard and scoundrel protection societies. 1721 S. Sewall 20 Oct. (1973) II. 984 Met a Niger Funeral. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > racism > organized pursuit the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > pursuit > hostile or violent > man-hunt or man-hunting > of black people 1834 3 135/3 When a slave runs away..a party is made up for a nigger hunt. 1882 in P. O'Farrell (1984) 68 The only incidents that occur are ‘nigger hunts’. 1961 26 478/2 The Notting Hill Riots, in which nine young white Britons went on a ‘nigger-hunt’ that triggered mob violence. 1834 R. H. Froude (1838) I. 380 Niggerland is a poor substitute for the limen Apostolorum. 1893 ‘J. Flynt’ in Nov. 99/2 His [sc. Barcas] South was all that remained below his equatorial line, but the eastern part of it he nicknamed Niggerland. 1999 (Nexis) 3 Oct. 13/1 At the beach..boys drew a line in the sand and designated it the border between Southie and ‘Niggerland’. 1919 J. Joyce Ulysses x. [Wandering Rocks] in June 37 From the hoardings Mr Eugene Stratton grinned with thick niggerlips at Father Conmee. 1992 (Nexis) 30 Sept. They'd say..she was ugly. They'd say she had nigger lips or she looked too Jewish. 1766 in Mar. 535/2 I, Governor Cuff of the Niegro's in the province of Connecticut, do resign my Governmentship to John Anderson Niegor man to Governor Skene.] 1813 in (1941) 21 263 My nigger man John now in Wm. Graves's possession. 1894 ‘M. Twain’ xviii. 238 I give a nigger man a dollar for dese clo'es, en I ain't be'n in a house sence..till now. 1988 N. Bissoondath x. 206 The way you scream, I thought it was a nigger-man. 1837 5 Feb. 461/3 That ‘beautiful nigger melody’, Jim Crow, owes some at least of its notoriety to fashionable patronage. 1857 J. D. Borthwick xii. 212 My entertainers, producing two violins, favoured me with a selection of Nigger melodies. 1894 G. Du Maurier I. iii. 219 He..can even scream with laughter at..a nigger melody. 1920 J. Joyce Ulysses Nausicca in July 47 The dark one [sc. girl] with the mop head and the nigger mouth. 1994 (Nexis) 5 Mar. j13 [She] told her to get the fancy French words out of her ‘nigger mouth’. 1846 8 Oct. 2/5 These serenaders show that even in nigger music some approach may be made to the plaintive melancholy of a higher order of minstrelsy. 1899 Jan. 251 Is it for this that the grand orchestras..exist?—that the people should rather go to hear a brass band play ‘nigger music’ in a beer garden? 1993 98 896/1 The survival of this music under the Third Reich, where racism led to the disparagement of jazz as ‘nigger music’. 2000 M. T. Bertrand 48 Southern white rock 'n' roll performers and audiences..could..idolize black stars... Yet they could just as easily refer to their new-found heroes as ‘jungle-bunnies’ who played ‘Nigger music’. 1856 F. L. Olmsted 61 You'll see some nigger-quarters. 1894 ‘M. Twain’ iii. 48 She..lef' her own chile layin' aroun', en tuck en toted de queen's chile home to de nigger-quarter. 2000 (Nexis) 23 Sept. a33 They refer to (their area of Cleveland) as the ‘nigger quarters’, and just about everybody in Cleveland calls it that still. 1856 C. E. De Long in (1930) 9 60 Went to a nigger show. 1909 R. E. Knowles xiii. 156 They'll be flaunting that Uncle Tom's Cabin nigger show under your noses. 2004 E. Bonilla-Silva in R. D. Coates 98 While his family was watching black TV shows such as Sanford and Son or The Jeffersons, his father would say things such as ‘Are we gonna watch the nigger shows?’ 1832 30 Sept. 630/2 Braham's nigger song, in the Padlock had great humour. 1879 J. R. Planché ii. iv. 253 (note) A nigger song to this tune..was extremely popular at that date. 1997 (Nexis) 28 Dec. 20 Blacks are expressing outrage that a group of drunken firefighters are caught on videotape singing a ‘nigger song’. C2. a. Objective. (a) 1845 F. Douglass ix. 57 All of this added weight to his reputation as a ‘nigger-breaker’. 1899 C. W. Chesnutt 96 Dey ain' nebber be'n no nigger-breaker lack you roun' heah befo'. 1986 No. 27. 305 Douglass, an ‘uppity’ slave, is hired out to Covey, a ‘nigger-breaker’, to have his spirit curbed. 1853 F. W. Thomas 285 You know Robinson the nigger-dealer, who has the pen down town. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment for moving ship over bar or shoal > [noun] > operator of society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > superintendent > supervisor or overseer > of slaves 1833 J. Neal I. 70 When the nigger-drivers falls out among themselves. 1891 C. Roberts 198 I never came across such a beast of a nigger driver as this fellow Cole. 1941 H. J. Massingham iii. 87 We have treated the soil as dirt, as a nigger-driver treated a plantation slave. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > racism > organized pursuit > person involved in the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > pursuit > hostile or violent > man-hunt or man-hunting > one who pursues black people 1855 C. G. Parsons 175 Here I found a large crowd of men who had gathered around the bar to receive a ‘treat’ from the ‘nigger hunters’, who always have that kind of glorification when the man is captured alive. 1993 (Nexis) 8 Aug. j1/2 Police search the neighboring house..posted as ‘Nazi Nigger Hunter Headquarters’. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > racism > organized pursuit the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > pursuit > hostile or violent > man-hunt or man-hunting > of black people 1834 3 135/3 In Kentucky..nigger-hunting is a favourite sport. 1958 Dec. 4/2 They had then armed themselves,..and had gone on what they described..as a ‘nigger-hunting expedition’. the world > life > death > killing > killer for specific reason or type of person > [noun] > of other specific types the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Scorpiones > order Pedipalpida > member of 1856 F. L. Olmsted 108 If a man does not provide well for his slaves..he gets the name of a ‘nigger killer’. 1998 (Nexis) 17 Aug. b1 The trigger-happy ‘nigger-killers’ who are the men who actually set the pattern for race relations in the South. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > advocacy of black rights or interests > excessive liking for black people > one who 1856 in E. W. Fornell (1961) 173 A wiseacre and a nigger lover. 1866 W. Reid 240 Nearly all of them fell readily enough into the current abuse of niggers and nigger-lovers. 1881 35 303/2 Only those would apply for admission who could endure the reproach of being called ‘nigger lovers’. 1909 R. E. Knowles xiii. 178 ‘Then you can take what you deserve, curse you for a nigger-lover,’ I heard the Colonel retort madly. 1991 A. M. Dershowitz iv. 83 If I am speaking about racial equality, it is because ‘kikes are nigger-lovers’. 1839 R. M. Bird I. xxv. 181 I was ‘a kidnapper, a Georgeye nigger-stealer’. 1994 (Nexis) 18 Dec. (Baylife section) 1 ‘It's horse thieves I'm after,’ said Jones... ‘And nigger-stealers. And murderers.’ 1850 Sept. 326 Johnny come down de hollow. Oh, hollow! De nigger-trader got he. 1884 ‘M. Twain’ viii. 69 But I noticed dey wuz a nigger trader roun' de place considable, lately, en I begin to git oneasy. 1999 (Nexis) 11 Feb. 20 Then if they had bad ones, they'd sell them to the nigger traders..An' they'd ship them down south. the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > respect > reverence > [noun] > excessive devotion to famous person > of specific people 1855 3 June 4/4 Old Garrison, of Boston, the great chief of nigger worship and nigger worshippers. 1933 28 Dec. 6/3 Coming down through the years from the copper plate of Adalbert Volei, ‘Nigger Worship’, an indictment of the No’th in civil war days. 2005 D. S. Reynolds i. 8 Democratic Party propaganda unjustifiably smeared the Republicans with responsibility for Harper’s Ferry. In this view ‘Black Republicanism’ meant not only ‘nigger worship’ but also deep alliance with John Brown. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > advocacy of black rights or interests > excessive liking for black people > one who 1855 3 June 4/4 Old Garrison, of Boston, the great chief of nigger worship and nigger worshippers. 1901 W. Churchill i. ix. 78 The Black Republican Party, made up of old fools and young Anarchists, of Dutchmen and nigger-worshippers. 2000 R. Hendrickson 112/1 The derogatory term nigger has been used in many expressions, including..nigger worshiper (one who favoured emancipation or one who now supports black political causes). (b) 1836 C. G. F. Gore III. xiv. 216 The Duke of Spalding was occupied in promoting the dignities of his nigger-driving nephew-in-law. 1900 H. Lawson 12 You'll never make money, except by hard graft—hard, bullocking nigger-driving graft. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [adjective] > liking for or sympathy with black people 1839 13 Jan. 12/2 The insane mode of government of their nigger-loving Governor. 1869 189 This man then said that..he was a ‘d—d nigger loving son of a b—h, and ought to be killed’. 1914 S. Lewis i. 3 Mrs. Zapp was too conscientiously dolorous to be much cheered by the sympathy of a nigger-lovin' Yankee. 2000 (Nexis) 12 July 24 A group of young men started shouting at me: ‘Nigger-loving whore’. b. Parasynthetic and similative. 1970 W. Ford in O. Coombs 43 I would tell of being Black and Proud and Black and Loud and Black and Bowed and Black and niggerdead. 1864 6 Aug. 2/5 He is an old shrivelled up nigger-faced, crooked-back little specimen of Southern chivalry. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective] 1837 J. C. Maitland (1843) 99 He has a half-caste, dropsical wife, and a sickly nigger-looking child. 1938 S. Spender 16 The gross-lipped fawn-eyed nigger-skinned Hook-nosed intellectual Petra. the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > dark brown 1915 2 Jan. 11/1 Nigger-brown cloth. 1922 D. H. Lawrence 116 She was wearing a wide hat of grey straw, and a loose, swinging dress of nigger-grey velvet. 1930 J. Dos Passos i. 124 On each table there were niggerpink and vermilion paper flowers. 1960 V. Williams 89 A dry-goods store showed a dress of ‘nigger-pink’. 1983 21 July 4/1 ‘It's a common phrase that is used throughout the land,’ he said. ‘And what about the colour nigger brown?’ 2006 K. Atkinson (2007) viii. 69 Graham was dressed in an up-to-the-minute suit in a colour that, when Gloria was a child, everyone had blithely referred to as ‘nigger-brown’. C4. 1960 J. Taylor (song) Ag Daddy how we miss Niggerballs and liquorice, Pepsi-cola, ginger-beer and Canada Dry. 1984 Jan.–Feb. Niggerballs! By golly, haven't seen those gob stoppers for years. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Symphta or Phytophaga Sessiliventres > family Tenthredinidae > athalia centifolia (turnip-sawfly) > larva of 1850 J. C. Loudon (ed. 2) 498 The black jack, or nigger caterpillar, being the larva of Athalia centifoliæ. 1883 G. W. Peck 22 I had a lot of rockets and Roman candles, and six pin-wheels, and a lot of nigger chasers. 1921 C. E. Mulford xvi. 217 Most likely they'll be nigger-chasers th' way some folks'll be steppin' lively to get out of th' way. 1958 J. M. Lacy in A. Dundes (1973) 597/2 He buys fireworks called ‘nigger chasers’. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for clothing > for clothing for specific people 1857 3 Jan. 3/2 The garments of..copper-coloured nigger cloth. 1860 J. G. Holland iv. 61 You see he sells some of his nigger cloth for goods. 1955 W. Foster-Harris i. 38 Typically the cloth was linsey-woolsey... ‘Nigger cloth’ it was called. It had been much used for slaves' garments, [etc.]. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > public building > [noun] > part of 1875 15 Apr. 15/2 They will hear ‘the same preaching’ from their ‘nigger’ corner, and will ‘receive the same sacraments’, after the whites have supped. 1894 ‘M. Twain’ in June 233/1 In the ‘nigger corner’ sat Chambers. 2000 1 Sept. 5/3 The name of the street in this picture is Blakely Street, but this part of it, which was a dead end, was called Nigger Corner. 1877 J. M. Beard 147 Uncle Jack had been the proud proprietor of the largest and best known pack of ‘nigger dogs’ in the ‘Goober State’. 1945 B. A. Botkin 122 I think I heared the nigger dogs and somebody on horseback. 1876 Sept. 101/2 The gray duck..are obliged to tolerate in their society that..tough, shot-resisting thing which is commonly called ‘nigger duck’. 1923 No. 13. 9 Black Duck... Niggerduck. the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Serranidae (sea-bass) > [noun] > member of > miscellaneous types of the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Pleuronectidae > pseudopleuronectes americanus (winter flounder) 1876 G. B. Goode 60 The red form corresponds to Terranus ouatalibe, and is known as the Nigger-fish. 1888 G. B. Goode 321 Next in importance to the Plaice, comes the Flat Fish, Pseudopleuronectes Americanus... New York anglers call it the ‘Nigger Fish’. 1933 97 Epinephelidae—The groupers... Cephalopholis fulvus punctatus—Coney; Niggerfish. the world > animals > birds > order Pelecaniformes > [noun] > family Phalacrocoracidae > miscellaneous types of 1909 9 309 Phalacrocorax auritus... Double-crested cormorant... Local name: Nigger Goose. 1941 R. Faherty 313 You can eat curlew, or kill duck or coot or niggergoose if they come flying out yonder. 1984 E. Hoagland in (1992) 319 Cormorants flew over, black, agile diving birds, which old fishermen across the South still like to call ‘nigger geese’ because they're dark and fly like geese. the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > others 1852 5 ii. 41 This plant [sc. Polysiphonia arietina] is common in various places in Long Island Sound... ‘Pooh! that's what we call “nigger-hair”’. 1901 A. F. Arnold (ed. 2) 88 P[olysiphonia] harveyi... Called locally niggerhair. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > curve in edge of sail 1901 12 302/2 The after leech would take an incurve or ‘nigger heel’, as sailmakers call it. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [adjective] > type of leech 1922 C. G. Davis (ed. 2) 63 A double-bighted sail would, if not carefully handled and hauled out too hard on peak and clew, become ‘nigger-heeled’, as a hollow leech was called. 1961 F. H. Burgess 150 Niggerheeled, said of the leech of a sail that curves inward of a line from peak to clew, and is therefore not roached. society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in slaves 1838 T. C. Haliburton 2nd Ser. iii A nigger-jockey..is a gentleman that trades in niggers,—buys them in one state, and sells them in another, where they arn't known. 1895 O. Wister in Nov. 850/2 It was two of our own mounted escort [sic] that she saw out to the right of us... ‘Tell dem nigger jockeys I got no money.’ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > North American > North American ironweed the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > tick-trefoil > bur of 1933 11 Sept. 6/7 The iron weed with its deep color, and..great clumps of ‘nigger lice’. 1946 2 Oct. 12/3 When I spoke the other day of ‘nigger lice’, I was referring to the tick trefoil, its scientific name. 1968 in (1996) III. 798/1 [Maryland] Nigger lice. the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune > exceptionally 1851 R. Glisan (1874) 90 I occasionally made him a little envious by my nigger-luck, as he is pleased to term it. 1914 1 Aug. 6 Just nigger luck!..That busher won't get another hit off me all season. 1994 C. Major 322 Nigger luck, a term used ironically referring to good luck; putting the best face on a bad, if not tragic, situation. society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > black minstrel society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > variety, etc. > performers in variety, etc. > [noun] > black minstrel 1844 9 June 6/1 The ‘Nigger’ Minstrels continue to attract good audiences. 1858 W. J. Hoppin i. i. 13 One doesn't hear such an imitation as that every day. It beats the nigger minstrels. 1936 A. B. Paterson xiv. 152 I've been away out where the nigger minstrels come from, and I haven't seen a paper or heard a word of news. 1996 (Nexis) 10 June t12 Back in the inter-war years, when it was still possible to produce a nigger minstrel show, some black people happily did the coon dancing. 1930 E. Gowen 81 In those sections of the South where the old traditions of gentle birth and culture still assert their ancient authority..there is commonly in use a vivid, brutal phrase to describe ostentatious display by the merely vulgar wealthy. The phrase is ‘nigger rich’. 1958 J. M. Brewer 77 Dey name hit de silk-stockin' chu'ch 'caze dey ain't nothin' but Nigguh-rich folks what kin b'long to hit. 1994 C. McCarthy 179 Now you're rich, Billy said. Nigger-rich, said Boyd. society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > [noun] > catapult 1876 E. W. Heap Diary 26 Feb. in (1969) lii. 53 I had a job on hand making Nigger shooters for Dr's children. 1901 G. Ade 172 All you wanted to do was to tear out with those Toughs and kill Birds with Nigger-Shooters. 1996 (Nexis) 18 Jan. 2 a The slingshot in those days had a nickname that was decidedly not politically correct..it was a nigger-shooter. society > armed hostility > military organization > insignia > [noun] > staff or stick 1971 15 Sept. 36 Nigger sticks. 1971 18 Sept. 11/7 Conditions inside American prisons... Prisoners live their lives at the end of gun barrels and what are often known as ‘nigger-sticks’. 1994 (Nexis) 24 Apr. a38 The weapon of choice is a truncheon with a 90-degree handle for increased leverage..a ‘nigger stick’. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible nuts or nut-trees > [noun] > brazil nut the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > nut > [noun] > Brazil nut 1853 (1854) 5 208 Some of the more approved [kinds of potatoes] are..the Niggertoe, the Meshannock, the Cumberland Kempt. 1896 1 421 Nigger toes: for Brazil nuts. 1946 H. L. Mencken in W. S. Knickerbocker 149 Niggertoe..was once used to designate a variety of potato. 1997 (Nexis) 6 July a7 She asks to buy nuts from the display case. ‘You want some of these nigger toes?’ asks the woman. 1892 July 12 He asked where I had been, and on telling him that I came fresh from ‘The Dive’, ‘The Bad Lands’, ‘Biler Avenue’, ‘Niggertown’, ‘Chinatown’, etc., he asked if these were not poor enough. 1932 W. Faulkner xv. 333 She was always around that little house in Niggertown where they live. 1997 43 No. 2. 12 In the mid-1950s, Tulsa was a segregated city, with an industrial zone separating ‘Niggertown’ from the rest of the city. 1857 H. R. Helper 18 Like all other niggervilles in our disreputable part of the confederacy, the commercial emporium of South Carolina is sick and impoverished. 1968 in (1996) III. 801/1 Niggerville. 1998 (Electronic ed.) 30 July a19 Callers..couldn't resist popping off a few monikers for the struggling Peninsula city... The name some East Palo Altans found most objectionable was Niggerville. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). niggerv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nigger n. U.S. colloquial. Now rare ( offensive). 1. a1813 [implied in: B. Rush Index 72/1 Niggering-off. (at niggering n.)]. 1833 S. Smith 22 He laid sticks across the large logs.., and niggered them off with fire, and then roolled [sic] them up in piles. 1883 E. Briggs xiv. 111 A custom prevailed to some extent with the choppers to ‘nigger off’ the largest logs while they were chopping up the smaller ones. 1905 M. G. Sherk 49 To save the time and labor of cutting the fallen trees into lengths for being drawn together by the oxen, they were often ‘niggered’. 1909 W. A. Ross 18 I've seen those old settlers ‘niggar’ the fallen logs—that is, they would build a small fire on top of the fallen logs..and keep it burning until it was burnt through. 1938 I. S. Davis v. 29 Some of the elms were so large that we had to ‘nigger’ them off. They were too large to be cut with a crosscut saw. the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > exhaust land [verb (transitive)] > exhaust 1859 J. R. Bartlett (ed. 2) To nigger out land, signifies..to exhaust land by the mode of tilling without fertilization pursued in the slave States. 1872 M. S. De Vere 116 The same regions are familiar with the phrase niggering out land, which marks the improvident and destructive method of working the same field, year after year, without manure. 1857 J. Hyde v. 120 Many of the people express satisfaction in seeing these ‘better-dressed fellers’ obliged to ‘nigger it’ as well as themselves. 1862 R. F. Burton (ed. 2) 432 They look with horror at the position of the ‘slavey’ of a pauper mechanic at being required to ‘nigger it’ upon love and starvation. 1899 2 Sept. 147 I've been ‘niggerin'’ for some cooks of a volunteer regiment. 2003 www.artic.edu 18 Feb. (O.E.D. Archive) The Ecole des Beaux Arts in France was exactly the same thing. I niggered—the word ‘niggered’ means to help or be of assistance. 1881 M. Crommelin I. ii. 21 Jemmy the third, was ‘niggering’ himself, by adorning his rosy cheeks with black. 2000 (Electronic ed.) 25 Oct. Someone..who thought it would be funny if this African-American character..if we were to, and this is a quote, ‘nigger up his voice’. That is to have him speak in a more shuck-and-jive dialect. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.adj.1577 v.a1813 |
/ˈnɪɡə/, 1800s– niggah, 1800s– niggar, 1900s– niggaz (plural), 1900s– nigguh.