jacket
Americannoun
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jackets
plural
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a short coat, in any of various forms, usually opening down the front.
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something designed to be placed around the upper part of the body for a specific purpose other than use as clothing.
a life jacket.
-
a protective outer covering.
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the skin of a potato, especially when it has been cooked.
-
the cover of a paperbound book, usually bearing an illustration.
-
a paper or cardboard envelope for protecting a phonograph record.
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a metal casing, as the steel covering of a cannon, the steel cover around the core of a bullet, or the water jacket on certain types of machine guns.
-
a folded paper or open envelope containing an official document.
verb (used with object)
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jackets,
present (3rd person singular)
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jacketed,
past participle, past
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jacketing
present participle
noun
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a short coat, esp one that is hip-length and has a front opening and sleeves
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something that resembles this or is designed to be worn around the upper part of the body
a life jacket
-
any exterior covering or casing, such as the insulating cover of a boiler
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the part of the cylinder block of an internal-combustion engine that encloses the coolant
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See dust jacket
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-
the skin of a baked potato
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( as modifier )
jacket potatoes
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-
a metal casing used in certain types of ammunition
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Brit name: sleeve. a cover to protect a gramophone record
-
a folder or envelope to hold documents
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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underjacketnoun
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jacket-likeadjective
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jacketedadjective
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jacketlessadjective
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jacketlikeadjective
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unjacketedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jacketsimple
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jacketssimple
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have jacketedperfect
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has jacketedperfect
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am jacketingprogressive
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are jacketingprogressive
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is jacketingprogressive
-
have been jacketingperfect progressive
-
has been jacketingperfect progressive
Past
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jacketedsimple
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had jacketedperfect
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was jacketingprogressive
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were jacketingprogressive
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had been jacketingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jacket
1425–75; late Middle English jaket < Middle French ja ( c ) quet, equivalent to jaque jack 4 + -et -et
Explanation
A jacket is a lightweight or cropped coat. Most jackets end at your waist or hips, while coats can be much longer. If you have outerwear made of denim or leather, feel free to call them jackets. Jackets are generally long-sleeved and fasten with zippers, snaps, or buttons down the front. Other meanings of jacket generally include the sense of "outer covering," like a book jacket or the insulating jacket around your house's pipes. The word comes from the Middle French jaquet, "short coat with sleeves," from the Old French jacque, "tunic."
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:
Eatherly switched the selfie stick to his left hand and put his right hand in his jacket pocket.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
That extra jacket could turn a brutal, frigid walk into something much more manageable.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Wakeley says a well-cut camisole or strappy top can work when worn beneath a linen overshirt, lightweight jacket or tailored co-ord.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Nakase’s comments came on the same day that Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a T-shirt that read “Trans kids belong” under her jacket during her team’s game against the Fever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
In order for the man in the red jacket to be okay, he needed to know that he could scare us.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
A Coast Guard investigation found the boat was overloaded and didn’t have any child or infant-sized life jackets when it capsized near the Statue of Liberty at around 10.20 p.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
"The life jackets were buried under the luggage, and not more than 30 people managed to get them," said Itayi Marumisa, a trader from Mola village.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
About $1,200 of her total went toward uniforms for her daughter’s private school, where single shirts and jackets from designated vendors can cost $50 to $70 each.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
The blaze originated in the stern, sending passengers fleeing to the bow where they were all given life jackets, Muhammad said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Next, I pushed Gus’s old jackets and sweaters to the back of the closet and hung up some of my T-shirts so it looked like I had a whole closet of my own.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
"Everyone who was sort of leather jacketed, leaning against the wall, too cool to dance, started dancing," recalls Pierson.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
Crossing a room, the jacketed general manager paused to hold a wine glass up to a light, making sure it was clean.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2023
At Hazelwood, on the shores of Lough Gill, I walked through a Jurassic-like forest of bramble, sedge and fern, and trees jacketed in soft moss.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2022
Shooting a 160-grain jacketed bullet at almost 2,000 feet per second, it was a speed demon at the time.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 14, 2020
On every side of me the red and blue and white jacketed skiers tore away down the blinding slope like fugitive bits of an American flag.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
The students have been asked to design a new fabric to be used for menswear sport jacketing.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2023
Book jackets so seldom reflect the nature of what they are jacketing that Philippe Halsman's photo for this collection of Author Moravia's short stories deserves attention.
From Time Magazine Archive
It has the advantage over methods of lagging or jacketing that the manure can be thrown over any pipe, water-seal, washing apparatus, &c., even if the plant is constructed in several separate items.
From Acetylene, the Principles of Its Generation and Use A Practical Handbook on the Production, Purification, and Subsequent Treatment of Acetylene for the Development of Light, Heat, and Power by F. H. (Frank Henley) Leeds
In jacketing vessels, to prevent draughts, care must be taken that the jackets do not cause currents of cold air to rise rapidly up the sides of the vessel, and so cool it.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 430, March 29, 1884 by Various
It was really an offence to me when the jacketing ceased.
From The Jacket (Star-Rover) by Jack London
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.
