jimmy
noun
a short crowbar.
jimmy
1 American
[jim-ee]
/ ˈdʒɪm i /
noun
jimmies
plural
-
a short crowbar.
-
a large male crab, especially of Chesapeake Bay.
verb (used with object)
jimmies,
present (3rd person singular)
jimmied,
past participle, past
jimmying
present participle
jimmy
2
American
[jim-ee]
/ ˈdʒɪm i /
noun
Australian Slang.
jimmies
plural
Jimmy
3
American
[jim-ee]
/ ˈdʒɪm i /
Or
Jimmie
noun
Jimmy
1
British
/ ˈdʒɪmɪ /
noun
jimmy
2
British
/ ˈdʒɪmɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jimmysimple
-
jimmiessimple
-
have jimmiedperfect
-
has jimmiedperfect
-
am jimmyingprogressive
-
are jimmyingprogressive
-
is jimmyingprogressive
-
have been jimmyingperfect progressive
-
has been jimmyingperfect progressive
Past
-
jimmiedsimple
-
had jimmiedperfect
-
was jimmyingprogressive
-
were jimmyingprogressive
-
had been jimmyingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing jimmy
The Sword of Summer
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Every Falling Star
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The Last Cuentista
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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:
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
And you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. jimmy snyder.
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
"When we stimulated one bipolar cell, many bipolar cells released neurotransmitters," says Z. Jimmy Zhou, PhD, Marvin L. Sears Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and principal investigator.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
A new option for students is a small high school, founded by music moguls Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, focused on project-based learning to impart the fundamentals of design, technology and entrepreneurship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
“I feel like Jimmy Stewart in the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Jimmy Doherty, founder of the Ipswich wildlife park, said the bears would soon be able to "finally feel real grass beneath their feet".
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Jimmy dropped the coin into his pocket and left.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
She fashioned little carts of coke — the hard coal used to heat ore — using jimmies and dragées.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
As if under an enchantment, Allery wanders back to the plant, where he jimmies the lock and completes a day of work alone.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2020
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
Instead of a bushel, we’d shoot to catch a dozen or dozen and a half of good jimmies, enough for lunch.
From Washington Post
Someone jimmies the door open a little wider, and half of her next-door neighbor’s face appears.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“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
They quickly jimmied the door open, popped the trunk and rescued a Brazilian couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, who’d paid $20,000 a piece to be smuggled to New York.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 27, 2019
But here, the elements seem to have come from different jigsaw puzzles, and the pieces feel jimmied into place.
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2014
Retrieval had jimmied a hologram lead into the existing electricity sockets and were projecting an unbattered wall over the hole.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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
He, then 19, was jimmying the driver’s side window with a coat hanger, having locked his keys inside.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2012
Nearly every afternoon, he commuted home to coach Louie, running alongside him, subduing the jimmying elbows and teaching him strategy.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
