jar
UK /d͡ʒɑː/ · US /d͡ʒɑɹ/ noun, verb
Forms jars jarring jarred
- noun (originally) An earthenware container, either with two or no handles, for holding oil, water, wine, etc., or used for burial. “She refilled the jar with peanuts today evening.”
- noun A small, approximately cylindrical container, normally made of clay or glass, for holding fruit, preserves, etc., or for ornamental purposes.
- noun A container and its contents; as much as fills such a container; a jarful.
- noun (UK, Ireland, colloquial) A pint glass
- noun (UK, Ireland, colloquial, metonymic) A glass of beer or cider, served by the pint.
- verb (transitive) To preserve (food) in a jar.
- noun (countable) A clashing or discordant set of sounds, particularly with a quivering or vibrating quality.
- noun (countable, also figuratively) A quivering or vibrating movement or sensation resulting from something being shaken or struck.
- noun (countable, by extension) A sense of alarm or dismay.
- noun (countable) The effect of something contradictory or discordant; a clash.
- noun (countable, now rare) A disagreement, a dispute, a quarrel; (uncountable) contention, discord; quarrelling.
- verb (transitive) To knock, shake, or strike sharply, especially causing a quivering or vibrating movement. “He hit it with a hammer, hoping he could jar it loose.”
- verb (transitive) To harm or injure by such action.
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To shock or surprise. “I think the accident jarred him, as he hasn’t got back in a car since.”
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To act in disagreement or opposition, to clash, to be at odds with; to interfere; to dispute, to quarrel.
- verb (ambitransitive) To (cause something to) give forth a rudely tremulous or quivering sound; to (cause something to) sound discordantly or harshly. “The clashing notes jarred on my ears.”
- verb (intransitive) To quiver or vibrate due to being shaken or struck.
- verb (intransitive, figuratively) Of the appearance, form, style, etc., of people and things: to look strangely different; to stand out awkwardly from its surroundings; to be incongruent.
Synonyms
cruse pot bottle jolt jarful jounce shock clash collide shake up bump around
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English jarre (“jar”), from Medieval Latin jarra, or from Middle French jarre (“liquid measure”) (from Old French jare; modern French jarre (“earthenware jar”)), or from Spanish jarra, jarro (“jug, pitcher; mug, stein”), all from Arabic جَرَّة (jarra, “earthen receptacle”).
The word is cognate with Italian giara (“jar; crock”), Occitan jarro, Portuguese jarra, jarro (“jug; ewer, pitcher”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
From earlier jar, jur, jarre, jurre, of uncertain origin. Possibly from earlier *char, *chur, *charre, *churre (now spelt chirr, churr (“to make a sound”); compare also nightjar and its variant nightchurr), from Middle English *chirren, *cherren, *churren (“to sound, cry, murmur, complain”), from Old English ċeorian (“to murmur, gripe, complain with just cause”), from Proto-West Germanic *karēn (“to complain”). For the change of ch to j, compare also charm, jarm (“chirping”); achar, ajar (“slightly turned or open”), chaw, jaw, etc. The noun is derived from the verb.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A turn. [Only in phrase.] On the jar, on the turn, ajar, as a door.
- noun A deep, broad-mouthed vessel of earthenware or glass, for holding fruit, preserves, etc., or for ornamental purposes; as, a jar of honey; a rose jar. Dryden.
- noun The measure of what is contained in a jar; as, a jar of oil; a jar of preserves. Bell jar, Leyden jar. See in the Vocabulary.
- verb To give forth a rudely quivering or tremulous sound; to sound harshly or discordantly; as, the notes jarred on my ears.
Etymology [See Ajar.]
Etymology [F. jarre, Sp. jarra, from Ar. jarrah ewer; cf. Pers. jarrah.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “jar”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details