jimmy
noun
a short crowbar.
jimmy
1 American
[jim-ee]
/ ˈdʒɪm i /
noun
-
jimmies
plural
-
a short crowbar.
-
a large male crab, especially of Chesapeake Bay.
verb (used with object)
-
jimmies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jimmied,
past participle, past
-
jimmying
present participle
jimmy
2
American
[jim-ee]
/ ˈdʒɪm i /
noun
Australian Slang.
-
jimmies
plural
Jimmy
3
American
[jim-ee]
/ ˈdʒɪm i /
Or
Jimmie
noun
Jimmy
1
British
/ ˈdʒɪmɪ /
noun
jimmy
2
British
/ ˈdʒɪmɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jimmysimple
-
jimmiessimple
-
have jimmiedperfect
-
has jimmiedperfect
-
am jimmyingprogressive
-
are jimmyingprogressive
-
is jimmyingprogressive
-
have been jimmyingperfect progressive
-
has been jimmyingperfect progressive
Past
-
jimmiedsimple
-
had jimmiedperfect
-
was jimmyingprogressive
-
were jimmyingprogressive
-
had been jimmyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jimmy1
1840–50; generic use of Jimmy; cf. jack 1
Origin of jimmy2
1835–45; rhyming slang; Jimmy (Grant), for immigrant
Explanation
To jimmy something is to force it open. If you lock yourself out, you can jimmy a window and climb inside your house. Or you could just use that key that's hidden under a rock by the door. A thief might jimmy a car door to steal its stereo, and if you accidentally paint your kitchen window shut, you may have to jimmy it open. The verb jimmy comes from the noun jimmy, or "short crow bar," the kind of tool you'd use to jimmy something. In the 1800s, this type of crowbar was popular with burglars.
Vocabulary lists containing jimmy
The Sword of Summer
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Every Falling Star
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The Last Cuentista
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A ground crew member had managed to jimmy the window open, passenger Matt Rexroad told FOX5SanDiego.com.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2023
It wasn’t really a cop show — or rather, it used that genre as a crowbar to jimmy open doors other cop shows didn’t enter: labor, education, media criticism.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
“Unfortunately, inside of our system in certain units, our detainees have the ability to jimmy their locks,” Edwards said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2021
“Imagine the idea of the American government convincing a foreign manufacturer to jimmy equipment in its favor,” the history says.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2020
She was working away, trying to jimmy loose the catch on a window screen.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
Appeared in the September 21, 2026, print edition as 'Trump, Xi and Jimmy Lai'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
While “The Pineapple” flirts with horror, torture and conspiracy nuts, it also provides space for Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Jimmy Doherty, founder of the wildlife park, said the bears would now live a "profoundly better life".
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February after being found guilty of foreign collusion and seditious publication.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
“Why can’t it be both? Kill two birds with one stone,” Jimmy said.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
She fashioned little carts of coke — the hard coal used to heat ore — using jimmies and dragées.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
As if under an enchantment, Allery wanders back to the plant, where he jimmies the lock and completes a day of work alone.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2020
The real deal is a pro-biotic, slightly sour dessert that no amount of jimmies can make palatable, at least to me.
From Time ● Aug. 3, 2010
But male blue crabs, or "jimmies," take good care of their mates.
From Time Magazine Archive
Someone jimmies the door open a little wider, and half of her next-door neighbor’s face appears.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
I had to use the trunk opener inside the glove compartment, which, of course, had been jimmied open, and I kept closed with duct tape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
In their video, posted Friday, the structure is jimmied into place under cover of darkness while one man shouts, “You can’t bring me down!”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2020
They peered at the famous door that was jimmied during the Watergate burglary.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2019
They quickly jimmied the door open, popped the trunk and rescued a Brazilian couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, who’d paid $20,000 a piece to be smuggled to New York.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 27, 2019
He jimmied the bike so the plastic tank sloshed.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
By now, Zhao’s at it again with the crowbar, jimmying our hearts open for one last tearjerk.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025
“I wasn’t really thinking about the fight at the time,” Forsyth said of his moments jimmying his way into the FBI office.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2021
Mercifully, the show mostly avoids the usual jukebox pitfall of jimmying in songs to reflect the plot in literal ways.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2019
Mr. Baugh went to work, officials said, backing his truck up, jimmying the offending vehicle’s window and hastily removing the S.U.V. — with 15 seconds to spare.
From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2015
Nearly every afternoon, he commuted home to coach Louie, running alongside him, subduing the jimmying elbows and teaching him strategy.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
