Meaning & use
noggin
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableinformalhumorous
A playful informal word for a person's head.
Grammar: Countable and often after a possessive; use your noggin means think.
Patterns
- use your noggin
- bump your noggin
- empty noggin
Use your noggin and check the map before we drive off.
He rubbed his noggin after bumping it on the shelf.
nouncountableold-fashionedBritish
An old-fashioned small cup or a small amount of an alcoholic drink.
Grammar: Rare today; often in phrases like a noggin of rum in older British writing.
Patterns
- a noggin of rum
- small noggin
The sailor ordered a noggin of rum at the inn.
She found a silver noggin in the antique shop.
Word forms
| plural | noggins |
|---|
Common combinations
- use your noggin
- Come on, use your noggin and reread the instructions.
- bump your noggin
- He bumped his noggin on the low doorway.
- empty noggin
- I drank coffee because my noggin felt empty this morning.
- a noggin of rum
- The novel mentions a noggin of rum before bed.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: noggin or noodle? noggin or nog?
noggin vs noodle
Noodle can mean a head informally, but also pasta; noggin does not mean pasta.
noggin vs nog
Eggnog is a drink, while noggin as a drink sense means a small measure or cup.
Practice
Choose the best meaning of noggin in this sentence: “Use your noggin before you answer.”
Choose one answer.
The idiom use your noggin means think. A small rum measure is an old British sense, but it does not fit before you answer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “noggin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.