deejay
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of deejay
First recorded in 1940–45; pronunciation of initials D.J.
Explanation
If you love deciding which song to play next at a party, you should be a deejay, a person whose job is to choose the music for a radio station, a party, or a club. Deejay or DJ is shorthand for disc jockey, originally spelled disk jockey in the 1940s. Today's deejays don't play shellac discs like the first ones did, but many of them do use vinyl records. Club deejays incorporate audio equipment to seamlessly merge one track into another, and radio deejays may play songs recorded digitally or on records, CDs, and cassette tapes. It's also a verb, so you can offer to deejay your friend's birthday party.
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.
The ballpark deejay quickly queued up John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Kelenic’s new walk-up song and, suddenly, a singalong favorite for everyone at T-Mobile Park these days.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
While the moms roast the nuts with chaat masala and the dads gather ’round the wine, my job is to sync my phone to a bluetooth speaker and play deejay.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2022
It involves improvising high-voltage sets of up to 90 uninterrupted minutes and controlling the room’s energy like a deejay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2022
In 2016, she revealed that, while she was dating deejay Calvin Harris, she secretly co-wrote one of his biggest hits under the name Nils Sjöberg.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2020
He reaches the deejay table and leans forward to say something, and then the deejay nods, and they bump fists.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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.
