ground-hog n.2
1. (US) a caisson worker, working under compressed air, digging and laying the foundations of bridges etc.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Morn. Tulsa Dly World (OK) 13 June 19/1: Dingbat — A laborer; known also as a shovel flirt or stiff or groundhog. | |
| ‘Hobo Lingo’ in AS I:12 651: Ground hogs—men who work in compressed air at caisson work. | |
| Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
2. (Can.) a meteorologist.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | DSUE (8th edn) 507/2: since ca. 1969. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
(US, Western) a tight corner, an inescapable situation.
| Tough Trip Through Paradise (1977) 105: I [...] hated the job of going after the horses. It was a ground-hog case. | |
| Texas Cow Boy (1950) 78: It was [...] dangerous to cross. But the wagons being over made it a ground hog case—or at least we thought so. | |
| DN III 231: Ground-hog case [...] An unavoidable situation. | |
| Wells Brothers 🌐 Ch. vi: It’s a ground-hog case; it’s hold these cattle or the Indians will eat them for you. | |
| ‘Animal Comparisons in Indiana’ AS II:1 52/2: Groundhog case—‘An extreme case’. |
(US) rough,cheap whiskey.
| Witchita Dly Eagle (KS) 12 Sept. 4/4: There is a new name for the whiskey [...] ‘coyote milk’ [...] It has been known as ‘pizen,’ ‘sheep-dip,’ ‘squirrel whiskey,’ ‘white mule’ and ‘groundhog juice’. |