Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who carries the verge or other emblem of authority before a scholastic, legal, or religious dignitary in a procession.
  • noun One who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during ceremonies.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who carries a verge, or staff of office.
  • noun An oilicial who takes care of the interior of a church, exhibits it to visitors, and assigns seats to worshipers.
  • noun An inclosure; specifically, an orchard.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who carries a verge, or emblem of office.
  • noun engraving An attendant upon a dignitary, as on a bishop, a dean, a justice, etc.
  • noun The official who takes care of the interior of a church building.
  • noun obsolete A garden or orchard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chiefly UK A lay person who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during services, where he or she carries the verge (or virge). An usher; in major ecclesiastical landmarks, a tour guide. In the United States, the office is generally combined with that of sexton.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a church officer who takes care of the interior of the building and acts as an attendant (carries the verge) during ceremonies

Etymologies

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Examples

  • What I want to know is who was the so called verger who gave you the shove.

    The Diocese of Niagara is employing bouncers « Anglican Samizdat 2009

  • The verger was a man past fifty, but there was no knowing by how many years, for he himself did not know the exact year of his birth, though he knew the day and month.

    The Raven In The Foregate Peters, Ellis, 1913-1995 1986

  • A verger was a sort of caretaker, she knew that much.

    Moontide Cameron, Stella 1985

  • This verger was the son and the grandson of vergers.

    The Fire Within 1913

  • "` I will send for a glass of water, sir, 'said the clergyman leaving the vestry to call the verger, or clerk, ` the lady is fainting.'

    Valerie Frederick Marryat 1820

  • His father sent Bob and Chris cables describing the madness of the crisis: the RAF bombed his office and hit the church next door killing the verger, just one of a "series of catastrophic mistakes" that infuriated and shocked the family.

    Christopher Hampton: My Egyptian paradise 2010

  • He and the verger retreated into the church and locked the door.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • The verger looked at the vicar, then nodded and smiled.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • It hung in the air, and the vicar and verger could almost feel the dead man below straining to move it higher, but then the stone fell down again and all was quiet.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • The vicar and verger watched, openmouthed, as the gargoyle rubbed its head.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

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