Jim Crow
/ˌdʒɪm ˈkɹoʊ/ proper noun, noun, adjective, verb
Forms Jim Crows Jim Crowing Jim Crowed jimcrow
- proper noun (obsolete, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A black man.
- proper noun (US, historical) The collective policies and customs of an era of racial oppression, especially legalized racial persecution and segregationist practices, prevalent from the late 1800s through the 1960s until challenged by the U.S. civil rights movement.
- proper noun A fictional character from various minstrel show performances who is stereotypically depicted as an unintelligent, violent, and promiscuous black man.
- noun (military, historical) A World War II code name for patrols along the British coastline to intercept enemy aircraft, originally intended to warn of an invasion in 1940.
- noun (engineering) A double-action planing tool invented by Joseph Whitworth, in which the blade ‘jumps’ to face the other way on the back-stroke.
- noun (rail transport) A tool for bending railway rails, by holding the rail with two arms and pushing a screw into the other side.
- adjective Discriminatory against African Americans.
- adjective Segregated between African Americans and Caucasians. “A Jim Crow audience”
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To work toward legislation that incorporates a discriminatory caste system or racial segregation.
Synonyms
Etymology
From the minstrel show song Jump Jim Crow, written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, the originator of blackface performance.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Jim Crow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details