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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

"A job interview is all about first impressions," he says.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

A president’s job is to be a brake on confused, hot-headed action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

“He’s done a really nice job with all the new faces around him, which is hard to do at this position,” Riley said of Maiava.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

The analysts made their assessment as Nike prepares to report quarterly results next week, and as David Denton, its new chief financial officer, settles into the job.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Phineas has come for a final examination by Dr. Harlow and to reclaim his old job on the railroad.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

Job losses and falling purchasing power have added to industry's woes by depressing consumer spending.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

For the Dodgers, Job 1 is to make sure he can hit in October.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Job seekers are now contending with increasingly personalized traps, said James Lee, president of the Identity Resource Theft Center.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026

Companies that perform such services are tight-lipped on how operations are carried out, but it's fair to say the security measures and planning are extensive to avoid the risk of a real-life Italian Job.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Eventually Job is reduced to nothing but raw suffering.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

But Devidez hopes new investment will bring jobs and revive the community.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Papuans say the development has brought jobs, roads, education and economic opportunities, but also environmental degradation and decades of social conflict.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

When filmmaker John Wilson was in between jobs after finishing his HBO show “How To With John Wilson” during the writers’ strike, he attended a seminar on how to write and sell a Hallmark film.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

There’s no guarantee that so-called AI-proof jobs are a silver-bullet solution for younger workers.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

“But Brie and I weren’t on the same page. I told her from the beginning where my priorities were. I have two full-time jobs these days, between teaching and writing. My plate’s pretty full.”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

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

The Dodgers may have been jobbed out of two World Series championships, having lost to the Astros in seven games in 2017 and the Red Sox in five games in 2018.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2020

He got jobbed out in that goofy angle with Cena and The Rock at Wrestlemania 32.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2017

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

Double jobbing, also known as dual mandates, was banned in Northern Ireland in 2016, when a number of MPs were forced to give up their seats in the assembly.

From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2022

Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry told BBC's Sunday Politics programme that the move was "a backwards step" and that Lord Alderdice had made "a fundamentally poor judgement call" to propose the reintroduction of double jobbing.

From BBC ● Jan. 17, 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