jack
/ˈd͡ʒæk/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms jacks jacking jacked jak
- noun A coarse medieval coat of defence, especially one made of leather. “jack of plate”
- noun (chiefly capitalized) A name applied to a hypothetical or typical man.
- noun (countable, now chiefly US) A man, a fellow; a typical man; men in general.
- noun (colloquial) A sailor.
- noun (slang) A policeman or detective; (Australia) a military policeman.
- noun (now rare) A manual laborer.
- noun (Canada, US, colloquial) A lumberjack.
- noun (India, historical, slang) A sepoy.
- noun A device for turning a spit; a smokejack or roasting jack.
- verb (transitive) To physically raise using a jack. “He jacked the car so that he could replace the brake pads.”
- verb (transitive) To raise or increase. “If you want to jack your stats you just write off failures as invalid results.”
- verb To increase the potency of an alcoholic beverage similarly to distillation by chilling it to below the freezing point of water, removing the water ice crystals that form, and leaving the still-liquid alcoholic portion.
- verb (transitive, colloquial) To steal (something), typically an automobile; to rob (someone). “Someone jacked my car last night!”
- verb (intransitive) To dance by moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion.
- verb (colloquial, vulgar) To jack off, to masturbate.
- verb (Memphis African-American slang) To fight.
- verb (intransitive or transitive, informal) To jerk or move by jerking; to remove or move (something).
- adjective (Australia) Tired, disillusioned; fed up (with).
- noun A jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus, syn. Artocarpus integrifolia).
- noun White mango (Mangifera caesia) of fruit-bearing plants.
Synonyms
jacktar tar jake 5-O alphabet barney beatsman bizzie bluebottle bluecoat blue heeler blue meanie bobby body snatcher bogey boy in blue bull bullyman buttons centenier doodly-squat diddly-squat diddlysquat diddly-shit diddlyshit diddly diddley squat shit mariner
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English jakke, from Anglo-Norman jacke, Middle French jaque, jacque, from jacques (“peasant”), from the proper name Jacques. Compare jacquerie.
Transferred use of the personal name Jack.
(cricket: eleventh batsman): An allusion to the jack in playing cards, which follows the 10.
From Portuguese jaca (“jackfruit”), from Malayalam ചക്ക (cakka).
Named after Scottish botanist William Jack, who described the species.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A large tree, the Artocarpus integrifolia, common in the East Indies, closely allied to the breadfruit, from which it differs in having its leaves entire. The fruit is of great size, weighing from thirty to forty pounds, and through its soft fibrous matter are scattered the seeds, which are roasted and eaten. The wood is of a yellow color, fine grain, and rather heavy, and is much used in cabinetwork. It is also used for dyeing a brilliant yellow. [Written also jak.]
- noun A familiar nickname of, or substitute for, John.
- noun An impertinent or silly fellow; a simpleton; a boor; a clown; also, a servant; a rustic. "Jack fool." Chaucer.
- noun A coarse and cheap mediæval coat of defense, esp. one made of leather.
Etymology [Pg. jaca, Malayalam, tsjaka.]
Etymology [F. Jacques James, L. Jacobus, Gr. Ya 'aq Jacob; prop., seizing by the heel; hence, a supplanter. Cf. Jacobite, Jockey.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “jack”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details