1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v.
1881. New York Slang Dict. ‘On the Trail.’ ‘If you do,’ returned
Bill, ‘I will fix my diggers in your dial-plate and turn it up with
red.’
Diggers’-Delight, subs. (New Zealand).—A wide-brimmed felt hat. For
synonyms, see Golgotha.
Diggings, subs. (common).—A place of residence or employment. [First
used at the Western lead mines in the U.S.A. to denote whence ore was
dug.]
English Synonyms.—Birk; box; case; crib; chat; den; dry-lodgings; drum;
place; pig-sty; pew; cabin; castle; chaffing-crib; caboose;
sky-parlour; shop; ken; dossing-ken; hole; rookery; hutch; hang-out.
French Synonyms.—Une bagnole (pop.: from bagne = hulks); un bazar
(military: also, a brothel); un bocal (pop.: also = stomach); une
baraque (common: in disparagement); une baite (thieves’); une case
(thieves’); une carrée (thieves’); une cambriole (thieves’); une
cambuse (popular); une condition (thieves’); un creux (thieves’); une
piole or piolle (thieves’).
German Synonym.—Bes, Beth, or Bajis.
Italian Synonyms.—Bacchia; clocchia or cloccia (also = a bell);
coschetto delle Fantasime.
Spanish Synonyms.—Caverna (‘a cavern’; cf., English den); aduana (also
= a brothel, and thieves’ resort); nido (‘a nest’; nido de ladrones, a
‘cross-drum’; a thieves’ resort); percha (‘a perch’).
1838. J. C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, II., 119. Look here, Ned, I
reckon it’s about time we should go to our diggings; I am dead
beat.
1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 171. The miner in California and
Nevada has been known, in times of a rush, to speak of a place
where he could stand leaning against a stout post, as his diggings
for the night.
1883. Referee, 1 July, p. 3, col. 2. Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft are
changing their diggings, and clearing out of Cavendish-square.
1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. viii. Oh, he lives round
the corner. You may see his diggings from your daughter’s bedroom
window, sir.
1888. C. J. Dunphie, The Chameleon, p. 86. ‘Diggings’ I call my
dwelling, according to the prevalent slang.
Diggums, subs. (provincial).—1. A gardener.