▪ I. nidget, n.1 Now only arch.
(ˈnɪdʒɪt)
Also 6 nigeot, 7 nigit, nigid, niget, nigget.
[var. of nidiot: see note to idiot.]
An idiot, a fool.
‘As a modern word, if used, it signifies a trifler’ (Smart).
| α 1579–80 North Plutarch (1895) II. 50 This made men judge..that he would prove a very foole and nigeot [1595 idiote]. 1603 Sir C. Heydon Jud. Astrol. xi. 244 Cleared from the imputation of [being] such a Nigit. 1621–3 Middleton & Rowley Changeling iii. iii, 'Tis a gentle nigget; you may play with him. 1638 Heywood Wise Wom. ii. i, I think he saith we are a company of fooles and Nigits. 1675 Ballad in Luttrell Coll. III. 107 Ridiculous Niget, to scoff at St. Bridget. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Nigit, a Fool. |
| β 1605 Camden Rem. 27 Abject, base minded, false harted, coward, or nidget. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Nidget, an Idiot, a Ninny, or meer Fool. 1843 James Forest Days ii, One of those men is a nidget. |
▪ II. nidget, n.2
(ˈnɪdʒɪt)
Also -ett, niggett.
[Of obscure origin.]
A triangular horse-hoe, used in Kent and Sussex.
| 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts I. 113, I have had what we call a brake and a nidget made..to move the earth in alleys. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 747 To admit of the ground between the plants being kept clean by the harrow and nidget. 1846 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. ii. 590 Guano..sown broadcast in the track made by the tines of the niggett. 1883 J. Y. Stratton Hops & Hop-pickers 23 The garden is kept clear of weeds by means of a horse-hoe, or nidget. |
▪ III. nidget, n.3
see nine-hole.
▪ IV. nidget, n.4
var. nigget.
▪ V. ˈnidget, v.1
[f. nidget n.2]
1. trans. To work (land) with a nidget.
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 758 Deduct summer digging... Add nidgetting. 1846 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. ii. 590 The portion..is niggetted or stirred as much before the 1st of April..as possible. 1848 Ibid. IX. ii. 553 It should be nidgeted and got into a fine deep tilth. |
2. To work in (lime, etc.) with the soil by means of a nidget.
| 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 548 Lime,..nidgeted in after the hops are planted,..will be of greater benefit. 1881 Whitehead Hops 33 Rape dust is a fine manure, and is nidgetted in with nidgetts. |
▪ VI. nidget, v.2 dial.
(See quots.)
| 1745–60 Arderon Norwich Words in Rye E. Angl. Gloss., Nigeting, to call women to one in labour. 1764 Low Life 29 Poor labouring Men..are obliged to get up, put on Part of their Cloaths and go a Nigiting, i.e. fetching Mid⁓wives, Nurses and Gossips. 1895 Rye E. Angl. Gloss., Nidget, to assist a woman in her travail. |