Badge

a. To distinguish or mark, as with a badge. "Their hands and faces were all badg'd with blood." - Shaks. Badgele , a. Having no badge. Badg'er, n. [Probably from W. baedd, a boar, and daiar, the earth; - earth-hog.] ( Zool. ) A quadruped, of which there are several species, composing the genus Taxidea, family Mustelidse. It is generally regarded as a solitary, stupid animal, that seeks refuge in the most sequestered places, and shuns the light of day. It has very short legs and a broad flat body; the head is long and pointed, the eyes small, and the tail re markably short. Its prevailing color is a kind of mottled gray; the face is white, and along each side of the head runs a long pyramidal band of black, including the eyes and ears. With its powerful claws, it constructs a deep and commodious burrow; and as it continues to bury itself, it throws the earth behind it to a great distance, and thus forms for itself a long winding hole ending in a round apartment at the bottom, which is well lined with dry gra and hay. This retreat it seldom quits till night, when it steals from its subterraneous abode for the purpose of procuring food. It live IMG:content-0494.jpg:[graphic] Fig. 264. - AMERICAN BADGER. chiefly on roots, fruits, insects, and frogs. It is about 21⁄2 feet long. The female produces 3 or 4 young at a time. The flesh of the B. is reckoned a delicacy, and may be cured into hams and bacon. The skin, when dre ed with the hair on, is impervious to rain, and consequently makes excellent covers for travelling trunks, ., while the hairs or bristles are made into brushes for painters. The American species is a slow and timid animal; it takes to the first earth it meets with, when pursued, and, burrowing in the sand, is soon out of the reach of danger. While the ground is covered with snow, it seldom ventures from its hole, but pa es the severe winter months in a semi-torpid state. (Eng. Law.) [From Fr. baggage ; or A. S. bygon , to buy; or L. Lat. bajulus , a carrier.] A person who buys corn or victuals in one place, and carries them to another to sell and make a profit by them. Bad'ger, v . α. To follow up or pursue with great eagerne , as the badger is hunted; to pester or worry; to tease; to persecute. Bad'ger, in Wisconsin, a post-village of Portage co., 15 m. S.E. of Stanton, Bad'ger-legged, a. Having legs of an unequal length, as the badger has been popularly supposed to have. "His body crooked all over, big-bellied, badger legged, and his complexion swarthy."-L'Estrange.