jack
1any of various portable devices for raising or lifting heavy objects short heights, using various mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic methods.
Also called knave. Cards. a playing card bearing the picture of a soldier or servant.
Electricity. a connecting device in an electrical circuit designed for the insertion of a plug.
Also called jackstone. Games.
one of a set of small metal objects having six prongs, used in the game of jacks.
one of any other set of objects, as pebbles, stones, etc., used in the game of jacks.
jacks, (used with a singular verb) a children's game in which small metal objects, stones, pebbles, or the like, are tossed, caught, and moved on the ground in a number of prescribed ways, usually while bouncing a rubber ball.
any of several carangid fishes, especially of the genus Caranx, as C. hippos(crevalle jack, or jack crevalle ), of the western Atlantic Ocean.
Slang. money: He won a lot of jack at the races.
Slang: Vulgar. jack shit.
Nautical.
a small flag flown at the jack staff of a ship, bearing a distinctive design usually symbolizing the nationality of the vessel.
Also called jack crosstree. either of a pair of crosstrees at the head of a topgallant mast, used to hold royal shrouds away from the mast.
Jack, a sailor.
a device for turning a spit.
a small wooden rod in the mechanism of a harpsichord, spinet, or virginal that rises when the key is depressed and causes the attached plectrum to strike the string.
Lawn Bowling. a small, usually white bowl or ball used as a mark for the bowlers to aim at.
Also called clock jack. Horology. a mechanical figure that strikes a clock bell.
a premigratory young male salmon.
Theater. brace jack.
Falconry. the male of a kestrel, hobby, or especially of a merlin.
to lift or move (something) with or as if with a jack (usually followed by up): to jack a car up to change a flat tire.
Informal. to increase, raise, or accelerate (prices, wages, speed, etc.) (usually followed by up).
Informal. to boost the morale of; encourage (usually followed by up).
Slang. to mess up, ruin, or injure (usually followed by up): The paint job was all jacked up.I jacked my shoulder when I fell.
to jacklight.
to jacklight.
Carpentry. having a height or length less than that of most of the others in a structure; cripple: jack rafter; jack truss.
jack off, Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.
jack up, Slang. to give oneself an injection of a controlled substance: After 30 heroin-free days, he was let out for the afternoon and came straight to my door, begging to jack up.
Idioms about jack
every man jack, everyone without exception: They presented a formidable opposition, every man jack of them.
Origin of jack
1Other definitions for jack (2 of 5)
to steal: Some neighborhood kids jacked her car and took it for a joyride.Hackers jacked my email account in a phishing scam.
to rob: He got jacked on his way home from the club.
Origin of jack
2Other definitions for jack (3 of 5)
Origin of jack
3Other definitions for jack (4 of 5)
a defensive coat, usually of leather, worn in medieval times by foot soldiers and others.
a container for liquor, originally of waxed leather coated with tar.
Origin of jack
4How to use jack in a sentence
Yet regardless of what you know about jack’s family, getting to know him personally will give you the best insight into who he is, and what kind of neighbor he’ll be.
Why We Judge People Based on Their Relatives - Facts So Romantic | Diana Fleischman | November 11, 2020 | Nautilusjack would always end his columns with one of those questions.
Philadelphia says goodbye to an icon, and the Palestra will never feel the same | John Feinstein | November 6, 2020 | Washington PostLongtime New Yorkers, they moved to Los Angeles in 2013 to be closer to Wareham’s son, jack, now a senior at the University of California at Berkeley.
Drew Schneider untangled the last jack-o-lantern string light on his Petworth patio and handed it to his 9-year-old daughter, completing a final step in his increasingly complicated quest to give his only kid a real Halloween.
Parents are going the extra mile to save Halloween for their kids | Emily Davies | October 29, 2020 | Washington PostVideo of jack’s run won an ESPY award and has been viewed nearly 9 million times.
His son’s touchdown run inspired millions. Now he faces his own fight with brain cancer. | Cindy Boren | October 29, 2020 | Washington Post
One of the best-selling video games instructs players in the skills of car jacking.
When no one did, Penny dragged out the tools, and after considerable trouble succeeded in jacking up the rear axle.
Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key | Joan ClarkThis outing was in the days before "jacking for deer" had become not only illegal but entirely unethical.
Days in the Open | Lathan A. CrandallOne of the shells—a five-or six-incher—did not explode, but bounced off the water and came ‘skip-jacking’ along straight for us.
Sea-Hounds | Lewis R. FreemanBut just before he took his train, Halkett had him in the sweat-box, jacking him up for not making his time.
The Grafters | Francis LyndeDemonstrations were given in hulling walnuts with a Ford car which was done by jacking up one rear wheel.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting | Northern Nut Growers Association
British Dictionary definitions for jack (1 of 4)
/ (dʒæk) /
a man or fellow
a sailor
the male of certain animals, esp of the ass or donkey
a mechanical or hydraulic device for exerting a large force, esp to raise a heavy weight such as a motor vehicle
any of several mechanical devices that replace manpower, such as a contrivance for rotating meat on a spit
one of four playing cards in a pack, one for each suit, bearing the picture of a young prince; knave
bowls a small usually white bowl at which the players aim with their own bowls
electrical engineering a female socket with two or more terminals designed to receive a male plug (jack plug) that either makes or breaks the circuit or circuits
a flag, esp a small flag flown at the bow of a ship indicating the ship's nationality: Compare Union Jack
nautical either of a pair of crosstrees at the head of a topgallant mast used as standoffs for the royal shrouds
a part of the action of a harpsichord, consisting of a fork-shaped device on the end of a pivoted lever on which a plectrum is mounted
any of various tropical and subtropical carangid fishes, esp those of the genus Caranx, such as C. hippos (crevalle jack)
Also called: jackstone one of the pieces used in the game of jacks
short for applejack, bootjack, jackass, jackfish, jack rabbit, lumberjack
US a slang word for money
every man jack everyone without exception
the jack Australian slang venereal disease
jack of Australian slang tired or fed up with (something)
to lift or push (an object) with a jack
electrical engineering to connect (an electronic device) with another by means of a jack and a jack plug
Also: jacklight US and Canadian to hunt (fish or game) by seeking them out or dazzling them with a flashlight
Origin of jack
1British Dictionary definitions for jack (2 of 4)
jak
/ (dʒæk) /
short for jackfruit
Origin of jack
2British Dictionary definitions for jack (3 of 4)
/ (dʒæk) /
a short sleeveless coat of armour of the Middle Ages, consisting usually of a canvas base with metal plates
archaic a drinking vessel, often of leather
Origin of jack
3British Dictionary definitions for Jack (4 of 4)
/ (dʒæk) /
I'm all right, Jack British informal
a remark indicating smug and complacent selfishness
(as modifier): an ``I'm all right, Jack'' attitude
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with jack
In addition to the idioms beginning with jack
- jack off
- jack up
also see:
- before you can say Jack Robinson
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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