dial. [f. lig, northern var. LIE v.1 + -ER1. Cf. LEDGER sb., which is a doublet of this word, and occurs in several of its senses.]
1. A coverlet.
a. 1483. Liber Niger, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 85. Hangers, liggers, and all that is the Kinge’s stuffe.
1847. Halliwell, Ligger, a coverlet for a bed. Linc.
2. † A scaffolding-timber; = LEDGER sb. 2 (obs.). Also, see quot. 1895.
1500–18. Acc. Louth Steeple, in Archæologia, X. 83. For middle scaffolds two pieces going through, 16d, eight smaller liggers 4d.
1895. E. Anglian Gloss., Ligger, a pole nailed horizontally from stud to stud to support the splints before receiving a coat of clay or loam.
† 3. The nether millstone. (Cf. LEDGER sb. 4.)
1781. Pegge, in Archæologia (1785), VII. 20. The stones which composed these primitive … mills … were two; an upper stone or runner, and a nether, called in Derbyshire a ligger.
4. (See quots.)
1840. Spurdens, Suppl. to Forby, Ligger, an extemporaneous bridge over a ‘mash-deek’ [marsh-dike] usually formed of an aldern pole lain over it.
1865. W. White, E. Eng., I. 162. Ligger or, in native pronunciation, Ligga, is the plank across a ditch or drain.
1887. W. Rye, Norfolk Broads, 67. We crossed a ‘ligger,’ or plank bridge, over a little beck.
5. Angling. A line with a float and bait which is left in the water, used chiefly in pike-fishing in the Norfolk Broads. (Cf. LEDGER sb. 5.)
a. 1825. in Forby, Voc. E. Anglia.
1883. G. C. Davies, Norfolk Broads, 130. You will see numerous bundles of reeds, each the size of a rolling-pin…. These are the Broadman’s ‘liggers,’ or trimmers, which he sets for pike all over the Broad. The line is rolled round the ligger with a foot or two free, and the double hook is baited with a roach.
Comb. 1895. P. H. Emerson, Birds, etc. Norfolk Broadlands, 317. Liggermen detest them [grebes]; for they will clear their liggers of fish.
6. Worsted-manuf. One who puts the material on to a carding machine. Also Ligger on (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
1881. Census Instructions (1885), 107. Bobbin Ligger.
1899. Daily News, 12 Jan., 2/1.
