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• job
  job

  noun

  a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price.
• Job
  Job

  noun

  the central figure in an Old Testament parable of the righteous sufferer.

job

¹ American  

[job] / dʒɒb /

noun

• jobs
  plural

1. a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price.

   She gave him the job of mowing the lawn.

2. a post of employment; full-time or part-time position.

   She was seeking a job as an editor.

3. anything a person is expected or obliged to do; duty; responsibility.

   It is your job to be on time.

4. an affair, matter, occurrence, or state of affairs.

   to make the best of a bad job.

5. the material, project, assignment, etc., being worked upon.

   The housing project was a long and costly job.

6. the process or requirements, details, etc., of working.

   It was a tedious job.

7. the execution or performance of a task.

   She did a good job.

8. Informal. a medical procedure or operation performed to improve the appearance of a specified part of the body (used in combination).

   a nose job; a boob job to enlarge her breasts.

9. Slang. a theft or similar criminal action.

   The police caught the gang that pulled that bank job.

10. a public or official act or decision carried through for the sake of improper private gain.

11. Slang. an example of a specific or distinctive type.

    That little six-cylinder job was the best car I ever owned.

    That guy sure is a good-looking job.

12. Computers. a unit of work for a computer, generally comprising an application program or group of related programs and the data, linkages, and instructions to the operating system needed for running the programs.

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verb (used without object)

jobbed, jobbing

1. to work at jobs or odd pieces of work; work by the piece.

2. to do business as a jobber.

3. to turn public business, planning, etc., improperly to private gain.

verb (used with object)

jobbed, jobbing

1. to assign or give (work, a contract for work, etc.) in separate portions, as among different contractors or workers (often followed byout ).

   He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits.

2. to buy in large quantities, as from wholesalers or manufacturers, and sell to dealers in smaller quantities.

   He jobs shoes in Ohio and Indiana.

3. to get rid of or dispose of.

   His party jobbed him when he sought a second term in office.

4. to swindle or trick (someone).

   They jobbed him out of his property.

5. to carry on (public or official business) for improper private gain.

adjective

1. of or for a particular job or transaction.

2. bought, sold, or handled together.

   He's too big a customer to buy in less than job quantities.

idioms

1. do a job on,

   1. to destroy, defeat, damage, or confound thoroughly.

      The thugs did a job on him—he'll be in the hospital for a month.

   2. to deceive, persuade, or charm glibly; snow.

2. on the job, alert; observant.

   The cops were on the job and caught them red-handed.

job ² American  

[job] / dʒɒb /

verb (used with or without object)

jobbed, jobbing

1. poke; thrust; punch.

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Job ³ American  

[johb] / dʒoʊb /

noun

1. the central figure in an Old Testament parable of the righteous sufferer.

2. a book of the Bible bearing his name.

3. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “persecuted.”

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job ¹ British  

/ dʒɒb /

noun

1. an individual piece of work or task

2. an occupation; post of employment

3. an object worked on or a result produced from working

4. a duty or responsibility

   her job was to cook the dinner

5. informal a difficult task or problem

   I had a job to contact him

6. a state of affairs

   make the best of a bad job

   it's a good job I saw you

7. informal a damaging piece of work

   he really did a job on that

8. informal a crime, esp a robbery or burglary

9. informal an article or specimen

   the new car was a nice little job

10. an instance of jobbery

11. computing a unit of work for a computer consisting of a single complete task submitted by a user

12. appointments given to or created for allies or favourites

13. 1. actively engaged in one's employment

    2. taboo engaged in sexual intercourse

14. exactly what was required

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verb

1. (intr) to work by the piece or at casual jobs

2. to make a private profit out of (a public office, etc)

3. 1. to buy and sell (goods or services) as a middleman

      he jobs in government surplus

   2. to buy and sell stocks and shares as a stockjobber

      he jobs in blue chips

4. to apportion (a contract, work, etc) among several contractors, workers, etc

Job ² British  

/ dʒəʊb /

noun

1. Old Testament

   1. a Jewish patriarch, who maintained his faith in God in spite of the afflictions sent by God to test him

   2. the book containing Job's pleas to God under these afflictions, attempted explanations of them by his friends, and God's reply to him

2. any person who withstands great suffering without despairing

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Job Cultural  

1. In the Old Testament, a man whose faith was severely tested by Satan, with God's permission. Job was the most prosperous and happy of men, who faithfully praised God for God's goodness. In order to get him to curse God, Satan destroyed all that Job owned, killed his children, and struck Job himself with vile sores from head to foot. False friends of Job's suggested that he should abandon his beliefs (see Job's comforters). But even in absolute misery, Job would not curse God, saying instead, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.” As a reward for his steadfast faith, God healed Job and “gave him twice as much as he had before.”

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job More Idioms  

1. see do a job on; hatchet man (job); lie down (on the job); on the job; put-up job; snow job; soft job.

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Synonym Usage

See task. See position.

Discover More

Figuratively, any long-suffering person can be said to be “as patient as Job.”

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• jobs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of job¹

First recorded in 1620–30; origin uncertain

Origin of job²

First recorded in 1475–1500; late Middle English jobben “to jab, thrust, peck, poke”; further origin uncertain

Explanation

Unless you win the lottery, you will probably need a job, or employment where you do work for pay. There are also non-paying jobs: it might be your job to wash the dishes after dinner. Job and work are often synonymous and unfortunately often have a negative connotation meaning “toil." Other meanings of job that are negative involve damaging events or crimes. When you wrecked your car, someone might have said, "You did a real job on that;" or, when you convinced your sister to hand over her allowance, you might have referred to it as a "con job."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

job Job jobs jobbed jobbing

Robert Toth's main job is overseeing The Wall Street Journal's special reports on small business and editing stories for the other special reports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

After graduating from Torrance High, Claire earned a degree in journalism from San José State in 1957 before taking his first newspaper job.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Yet as Paramount targets billions in cost cuts across the merged company, staff fear the consolidation will trigger significant job losses at CNN and CBS.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The human body contains three major types, each designed for a different job.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

And if I keep my eyes and ears on the job he’s doing, I can make sure that the work he does at the OldMill is honest and trustworthy.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Pike bounced from one school to another before joining Knoxville Job Corps aged 18 - what was meant to be a new start.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Job growth this year has been driven by healthcare and social services, education and retail — industries that the forecast does not expect to remain as strong.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Read also: Job seekers can now spend thousands on AI certificates.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

The duo’s sprawling “Six Job Experiences of Mr. Liu” depicts the difficult life of one member’s former colleague.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

I heard her asking old Job if I was there.

From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

Texas’ 18,800 securities-industry jobs added since 2019 are still behind New York’s 24,300 additions, according to DiNapoli.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Beyond the dwindling jobs and precarious economics of the 1930s serving as a push factor for many Mexican families, a wave of xenophobia also helped send hundreds of thousands back to Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Google said the construction phase in 2027 and 2028 would support more than 37,000 jobs and contribute an average of €3.6bn a year to Finland's economy.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Here are the fields where switching jobs will pay more than staying in place.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

He and Josie’s mother had been strangers in the city, lured by the promise of new jobs, so there were no other family members who could rush immediately to his side.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Then it may end up in an off-price channel or being jobbed out to another country, et cetera.

From The Verge ● Jul. 26, 2022

College football fans watching the game believed Tennessee got jobbed.

From Fox News ● Dec. 31, 2021

Eakes, Sorsa and Dickey balance subtle humor with striking authenticity, whereas Garrison is a full-blown comic diva who seems to have jobbed in from one of Shore’s more farcical early plays — a tonal irregularity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2020

After his discharge, he jobbed around as a disc jockey and newscaster at commercial stations in North Carolina and Virginia, including WAVA-FM in Northern Virginia, before joining NPR.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2018

Two broken knees, and two scratched palms, gloves destroyed beyond all hope, and my hat jobbed over one eye, everybody in fits of laughter, of course, especially my own family.

From Ladies in the Field: Sketches of Sport by Beatrice Violet Graham Greville

Indeed, Liekhus is the first actor who was able to convince me that the character of Ma Rainey really is a professional, jobbing singer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Frustrated, Layla began speaking about her experience with other former clients and Alexa Morden, host of the 98% Club, a podcast which explores the reality of work for jobbing actors.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2024

Youdale, who moved to London from Billingham, on Teesside, in the mid-1980s to study dance, remembers working as a "jobbing actor" and choreographer.

From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2024

Foad, 29, describes himself as a "jobbing comedy writer" who won a scholarship to drama school before moving into scriptwriting.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2022

His musical efflorescence was tragically brief, but this is the man who turned the chord-strumming, jobbing electric guitar into a high-wire, virtuoso lead instrument, from also-ran to star turn.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• activity
• appointment
• assignment
• business
• career
• office
• operation
• place
• position
• post
• profession
• situation
• spot
• stint
• task
• trade
• work