# badger

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbæd͡ʒə/ · frequency rank #15,342

## Definitions
1. Any mammal belonging to the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora and Taxidea.
2. A native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin.
3. A brush made of badger hair.
4. A gang of robbers who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered.
5. A person who is very fond of cricket.

## Etymology
From Middle English bageard (“marked by a badge”), from bage (“badge”), referring to the animal's badge-like white blaze, equivalent to badge + -ard. Displaced earlier brock, from Old English brocc.

## Easily confused with
- **baker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-baker)
- **Bauer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bauer)
- **barge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-barge)
- **Bayer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bayer)
- **budge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-budge)
- **bagel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bagel)
- **budget** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-budget)
- **bigger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bigger)
- **banner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-banner)
- **burger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-burger)
- **barber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-barber)
- **banker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-banker)
- **barker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-barker)
- **batter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-batter)
- **Baxter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-baxter)
- **banter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-banter)
- **bidder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bidder)
- **bagged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bagged)
- **Bangor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-bangor)
- **barter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badger-vs-barter)

## Common misspellings (9)
`abdger`, `baddger`, `badegr`, `badgerr`, `badgger`, `badgre`, `bagder`, `bbadger`, `bdager`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/badger