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• jimmy
  jimmy

  noun

  a short crowbar.
• Jimmy
  Jimmy

  noun

  a male given name, form of James.

jimmy

¹ American  

[jim-ee] / ˈdʒɪm i /

noun

• jimmies
  plural

1. a short crowbar.

2. a large male crab, especially of Chesapeake Bay.

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verb (used with object)

• jimmies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• jimmied,
  past participle,  past
• jimmying
  present participle

1. to force open (a door, window, etc.) with a jimmy.

   The burglar got in by jimmying the back door.

jimmy ² American  

[jim-ee] / ˈdʒɪm i /

noun

Australian Slang.

• jimmies
  plural

1. an immigrant.

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Jimmy ³ American  

[jim-ee] / ˈdʒɪm i /

Or Jimmie

noun

1. a male given name, form of James.

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Jimmy ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒɪmɪ /

noun

1. slang an informal term of address to a male stranger

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jimmy ² British  

/ ˈdʒɪmɪ /

noun

1. the US word for jemmy

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• jimmies
  plural

Participles

• jimmying
  present
• jimmied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• jimmy
  simple
• jimmies
  simple
• have jimmied
  perfect
• has jimmied
  perfect
• am jimmying
  progressive
• are jimmying
  progressive
• is jimmying
  progressive
• have been jimmying
  perfect progressive
• has been jimmying
  perfect progressive

Past

• jimmied
  simple
• had jimmied
  perfect
• was jimmying
  progressive
• were jimmying
  progressive
• had been jimmying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will jimmy
  simple
• will have jimmied
  perfect
• will be jimmying
  progressive
• will have been jimmying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of jimmy¹

1840–50; generic use of Jimmy; cf. jack ¹

Origin of jimmy²

1835–45; rhyming slang; Jimmy (Grant), for immigrant

Explanation

To jimmy something is to force it open. If you lock yourself out, you can jimmy a window and climb inside your house. Or you could just use that key that's hidden under a rock by the door. A thief might jimmy a car door to steal its stereo, and if you accidentally paint your kitchen window shut, you may have to jimmy it open. The verb jimmy comes from the noun jimmy, or "short crow bar," the kind of tool you'd use to jimmy something. In the 1800s, this type of crowbar was popular with burglars.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jimmy Jimmy jimmies jimmied jimmying

A ground crew member had managed to jimmy the window open, passenger Matt Rexroad told FOX5SanDiego.com.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2023

“Unfortunately, inside of our system in certain units, our detainees have the ability to jimmy their locks,” Edwards said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2021

“Imagine the idea of the American government convincing a foreign manufacturer to jimmy equipment in its favor,” the history says.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2020

Without a trace of fondness, forward Jay Beagle remembers battling Oshie in the corners, trying to jimmy the puck free.

From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2016

I pull out the calibration tool and jimmy it under the lower edge of the cover.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

That sounds unhinged if you have seen the viral Jimmy Kimmel video with his aunt screaming in a driverless car.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

A few weeks ago, Talarico went on Jimmy Kimmel’s show—that has 15 million views on YouTube.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

Jimmy Carter, famously a Sunday school teacher, spoke about his faith a lot.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026

What do you think happened to Jimmy Hoffa?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

I drove home broken and brokenhearted about Jimmy Dill.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

She fashioned little carts of coke — the hard coal used to heat ore — using jimmies and dragées.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022

A small boy appears, jimmies the flaps off with a dinner knife and instructs the man in how to make a paper airplane.

From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2011

The real deal is a pro-biotic, slightly sour dessert that no amount of jimmies can make palatable, at least to me.

From Time ● Aug. 3, 2010

But male blue crabs, or "jimmies," take good care of their mates.

From Time Magazine Archive

The aboatia jimmies the trophy case open like a cat burglar and hops onto one of the doorknobs.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

I had to use the trunk opener inside the glove compartment, which, of course, had been jimmied open, and I kept closed with duct tape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

For one thing, “& Juliet” is not — like “Jersey Boys” and “The Cher Show” — a biomusical, chronicling artists’ ups and downs no matter how jimmied or flat-out falsified.

From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2022

“So I jimmied the lock, started taking paper towels and put them in the AP teletype.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2022

They peered at the famous door that was jimmied during the Watergate burglary.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2019

She jimmied her window open and crawled inside.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

By now, Zhao’s at it again with the crowbar, jimmying our hearts open for one last tearjerk.

From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025

But in jimmying the original into a more serious musical format as it proceeds, it achieves only a middling geniality.

From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

“I wasn’t really thinking about the fight at the time,” Forsyth said of his moments jimmying his way into the FBI office.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2021

Mr. Baugh went to work, officials said, backing his truck up, jimmying the offending vehicle’s window and hastily removing the S.U.V. — with 15 seconds to spare.

From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2015

When everyone ran, he followed, churning along with jimmying elbows and dropping far behind.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand