noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jawbonesimple
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jawbonessimple
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have jawbonedperfect
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has jawbonedperfect
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am jawboningprogressive
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are jawboningprogressive
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is jawboningprogressive
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have been jawboningperfect progressive
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has been jawboningperfect progressive
Past
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jawbonedsimple
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had jawbonedperfect
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was jawboningprogressive
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were jawboningprogressive
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had been jawboningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jawbone
Explanation
To jawbone is to talk informally. Think "schmooze," "talk up," or "chit chat;" it's a word to use when the act of talking is more important than what's being talked about. In a financial or political context, jawboning is a form of persuasion. When Lyndon B. Johnson attempted to jawbone rising interest-rates in 1966, he was attempting to change the behavior of the markets without taking direct action. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fireside Chats can be seen as jawboning as well, as FDR enlisted support first for New Deal programs and then for the US role in World War II through informal, friendly radio-broadcast "chats."
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:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is projecting a more humble view after failing to jawbone the bond market.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
An amateur fossil hunter's discovery of a 200-million-year-old fish jawbone has helped solve two centuries of "confusion" over the origins of fossils across Europe, palaeontologists say.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Nor is he using “forward guidance” to jawbone markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Less than a week later, two sisters paddleboarding on the lake found a human jawbone and skeletal remains in a nearby sandbar, according to KTNV-TV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The noise is deafening, and my jawbone bangs rhythmically on the iron edging.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Real jawbones of dead whales were first raised on top of West Cliff in 1964 as a symbol of Whitby's maritime heritage.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Several jawbones contained smooth deposits inside their empty tooth sockets that looked different from naturally accumulated sediment.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
A digital comparison of the newly uncovered mandible with 83 other jawbones confirmed a strange mix of ancient and modern anatomical features.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2023
Some of the jab jab masqueraders wore cow horns on their heads or carried cow jawbones, plastic snakes or chains — a reminder of slavery.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2018
Some of them had the beginnings of beards, straggly tufts of hair that stood in isolated clumps on their chins, jawbones, and upper lips.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
Finance Minister Shinichi Suzuki jawboned markets against pushing down the yen too much, saying earlier on Wednesday that rapid moves in the yen were "undesirable."
From Reuters ● Apr. 13, 2022
Just as in his ad against Cruz, Davis' monologue in "Bernie" occurred while he wore casual clothes and jawboned at a local barbecue establishment.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2018
He argued calls, jawboned umps, ran the base paths as aggressively—and menacingly—as any opposing player who’d ever tried to knock him down or spike him on a slide.
From Time ● Apr. 15, 2016
In 1995, he jawboned his way into a Smithsonian internship.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2016
Okun figures that between 1966 and 1968, wholesale prices rose an average 2.3% a year for most industries; they went up only 1.7% in 15 "jawboned" industries, including steel, copper, autos and aluminum.
From Time Magazine Archive
Neither Modi’s jawboning nor an estimated $100 billion in Reserve Bank of India intervention has stemmed the decline so far, though, says Venkat Pasupuleti, portfolio manager for India at Dalton Investments.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
But Bessent has not just been jawboning the Dow; he has been making military pronouncements on cable news.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2026
Oil dropped on these remarks on Tuesday and equities bounced — even though the president was just jawboning.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026
This consolidation piece is happening at the same time as the jawboning piece.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2025
True, the Fed can influence the yield on that longer-dated paper through its current short-term rate policy, economic projections and jawboning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2025
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
