vbl. sb. [f. as prec. + -ING1.]
1. Persistent worrying, persecution.
1796. Burke, Lett. to Lawrence, 16 Dec. He would rather be defeated on the Rhine or Po than suffer a badgering every day in the House of Commons.
1840. Dickens, Barn. Rudge (1866), I. xiii. 59. The constant badgering and worrying of his venerable parent.
2. Acting as ‘badger’; still dial. beating down the cost.
1844. Act 7 & 8 Vict., xxiv. Preamb., Statutes … prohibiting … badgering, forestalling, [etc.].
1875. in Whitby Gloss.
