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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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have been jacketingperfect progressive
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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:
Piker kicked off his Wednesday show by talking about his custom-tailored jacket and his bodybuilding workouts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
“Any ideas of things to see in L.A.?” he asks me, dressed in a violet-colored chore jacket only a few shades removed from the blue one he wore onstage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
But in that 1967 episode, when she was still an unknown, the only glimmer to behold was embroidered on the host’s jacket.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
Weaving together her memory of a childhood jacket her mother made from rags with the biblical tale of Joseph, “Coat” was a statement of identity and purpose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
As I tried on the jacket, which fit to perfection, she walked to the rack and pulled down a wool coat worn thin at the elbows.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Building sites, for example, must provide workers with suitable clothing such as jackets with built-in fans, as well as air-conditioned break rooms and canopies to ensure shade.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
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 men were wearing their jackets to make them look like delivery drivers, the court heard.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 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
We all had our down jackets out today, finally admitting to ourselves that winter was a thing that was happening.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
"Everyone who was sort of leather jacketed, leaning against the wall, too cool to dance, started dancing," recalls Pierson.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
A slightly overcast sky for the first race eventually gave way to sunshine, warming the mostly jacketed crowd announced at 37,143.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 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
Half a dozen nurses, trousered and jacketed in the regulation white viscose-linen uniform, their hair aseptically hidden under white caps, were engaged in setting out bowls of roses in a long row across the floor.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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
But I had grown too used to the jacket during my incorrigible days to let a single jacketing injure me.
From The Jacket (Star-Rover) by Jack London
If the sphere is charged and then the jacketing hemispheres fitted on it and removed, the sphere is found to be perfectly discharged.3 Numerous other demonstrations of this fact were given by Faraday.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various
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.
