▪ I. hugger, n.1
(ˈhʌgə(r))
[f. hug v. + -er1.]
One who hugs. b. dial. A porter or carrier (Whitby Gloss. 1876).
| 1682 Otway Venice Pres. ii. i, Bedamore. Pierre! I must embrace him. My heart beats to this man as if it knew him. Renault. I never lov'd these Huggers! 1894 Nation (N.Y.) 13 Sept. 204/2 Not only are they [serpents] carried in such a way as to prevent their striking, but the ‘hugger’, as the attendant priest is called, is always present with his whip to guard against an accident. |
▪ II. † ˈhugger, n.2 Obs.
[Cf. hugger v.]
Concealment; = hugger-mugger n. 1.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 250 Hee counselleth..to keepe them no longer in hugger, but to let them..shewe themselves abroade. |
▪ III. hugger, n.3
Var. hogger, a footless stocking.
| 1791 T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 50 Others..wear what they call huggers, and in the Northern parts of Scotland hugger-muggans, that is, stockings with the feet either worn away by long and hard service, or cut from them on purpose. 1827 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 287 A lassie frae Yarrow or Ettrick, in worsted huggers. |
▪ IV. hugger, v. Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈhʌgə(r))
[prob. short for hugger-mugger v. (But possibly the source of the first element of the compound.)]
† 1. intr. To be concealed; to lie in ambush. Obs.
| 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 43–4 Such a one they saw there lyrkinge and huggeringe two houres before. |
2. trans. To conceal, keep secret; to wrap up.
| 1600 Breton Pasquil's Message (1626) E, Tell Trueth for Shame and Hugger up no ill. 1876 Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘Hugger 't up onny hoo, I's clash'd for time’, wrap it up in any shape, I am in a hurry. |
† 3. intr. To become confused or disorderly; to get into confusion. Obs.
| c 1520 Skelton Vox Populi 603 By Godes blessed mother, Or thei begynne to hugger, For Godes sake looke aboute. |