doodlebugger

noun — 2 senses

doodlebugger

noun

Etymology From doodlebug (“divining rod”) + -er.

1

Slang A dowser searching for subterranean natural resources such as water or oil.

  • This was a "doodlebugger," a man who searches for oil with divining rods of wondrous shapes and descriptions. And not just any doodlebugger, but one of the hottest noses in the amateur oil-sniffing game – Walter J. Nelson.1963, December 7, William Trombley, “The dowser who finds oil wells”, The Saturday Evening Post, issue 43, page 88
2

Broadly, Slang A geophysicist working in the field to explore oil or other natural resources.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.