jockey

[jok-ee]

noun

plural

jockeys 

1. a person who rides horses professionally in races.

2. Informal.,  a person who pilots, operates, or guides the movement of something, as an airplane or automobile.

verb (used with object)

jockeyed, jockeying 

1. to ride (a horse) as a jockey.

2. Informal.,  to operate or guide the movement of; pilot; drive.

3. to move, bring, put, etc., by skillful maneuvering.

   The movers jockeyed the sofa through the door.

4. to trick or cheat.

   The salesman jockeyed them into buying an expensive car.

5. to manipulate cleverly or trickily.

   He jockeyed himself into office.

verb (used without object)

jockeyed, jockeying 

1. to aim at an advantage by skillful maneuvering.

2. to act trickily; seek an advantage by trickery.

jockey

/ ˈdʒɒkɪ /

noun

1. a person who rides horses in races, esp as a profession or for hire

verb

1. 1. (tr) to ride (a horse) in a race

   2. (intr) to ride as a jockey

2. to try to obtain an advantage by manoeuvring, esp literally in a race or metaphorically, as in a struggle for power (esp in the phrase jockey for position )

3. to trick or cheat (a person)

Other Word Forms

• jockeylike adjective
• jockeyish adjective
• jockeyship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of jockey¹

First recorded in 1520–30 for an earlier sense; special use of Jock + -ey ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of jockey¹

C16 (in the sense: lad): from name Jock + _-ey

Example Sentences

It was the first Breeders’ Cup win for jockey Hector Barrios, whose reputation is as a turf rider.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Parties compete to get as much of their manifesto into the coalition agreement as possible, and that's even before the jockeying for ministerial jobs.

Read more on Barron's

Reports, often based on anonymous leaks, tell us about how Mr. Cash allegedly conveyed to Mr. Berry gossip about leadership jockeying within the then-governing Conservative Party, information Mr. Berry supposedly passed to a Chinese agent.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Its first generation of video jockeys, or VJs, became celebrities themselves as the channel turned music television into a global phenomenon.

Read more on Salon

The jockeying for positions will continue over the next months - so who are those players with something to prove to Tuchel as he considers England's squad to take to the World Cup?

Read more on BBC