Auger \Au"ger\, n. [OE. augoure, nauger, AS. nafeg[=a]r, fr. nafu, nafa, nave of a wheel + g[=a]r spear, and therefore meaning properly and originally a nave-bore. See Nave (of a wheel) and 2d Gore, n.]

1. A carpenter's tool for boring holes larger than those bored by a gimlet. It has a handle placed crosswise by which it is turned with both hands. A pod auger is one with a straight channel or groove, like the half of a bean pod. A screw auger has a twisted blade, by the spiral groove of which the chips are discharge.

2. An instrument for boring or perforating soils or rocks, for determining the quality of soils, or the nature of the rocks or strata upon which they lie, and for obtaining water.

Auger bit, a bit with a cutting edge or blade like that of an anger.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)