jockey
Americannoun
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jockeys
plural
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a person who rides horses professionally in races.
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Informal. a person who pilots, operates, or guides the movement of something, as an airplane or automobile.
verb (used with object)
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jockeys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jockeyed,
past participle, past
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jockeying
present participle
-
to ride (a horse) as a jockey.
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Informal. to operate or guide the movement of; pilot; drive.
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to move, bring, put, etc., by skillful maneuvering.
The movers jockeyed the sofa through the door.
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to trick or cheat.
The salesman jockeyed them into buying an expensive car.
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to manipulate cleverly or trickily.
He jockeyed himself into office.
verb (used without object)
-
jockeys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jockeyed,
past participle, past
-
jockeying
present participle
-
to aim at an advantage by skillful maneuvering.
-
to act trickily; seek an advantage by trickery.
noun
verb
-
-
(tr) to ride (a horse) in a race
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(intr) to ride as a jockey
-
-
to try to obtain an advantage by manoeuvring, esp literally in a race or metaphorically, as in a struggle for power (esp in the phrase jockey for position )
-
to trick or cheat (a person)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jockeysimple
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jockeyssimple
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have jockeyedperfect
-
has jockeyedperfect
-
am jockeyingprogressive
-
are jockeyingprogressive
-
is jockeyingprogressive
-
have been jockeyingperfect progressive
-
has been jockeyingperfect progressive
Past
-
jockeyedsimple
-
had jockeyedperfect
-
was jockeyingprogressive
-
were jockeyingprogressive
-
had been jockeyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jockey
First recorded in 1520–30 for an earlier sense; special use of Jock + -ey 2
Explanation
During a horse race, the riders are called jockeys. Being a jockey is an excellent career choice for someone small. Jockeys, usually male, are always small people, weighing less than 120 pounds and generally standing no more than five feet five inches tall. This keeps the horses' total weight light, allowing them to run faster. When jockey is used as a verb, it means "to struggle or compete," like when politicians jockey for dominance or kids jockey to be the first in line for a bouncy house. Jockey was originally a Scottish word for "boy."
Vocabulary lists containing jockey
Horsin' Around
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Born a Crime
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Dear Martin
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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:
Having ridden 60 winners since the start of May, Osborne is currently sitting eighth in the Flat Jockeys Championship, and is open about dreaming of being champion jockey in the future.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Composers were known to jockey for the chance to premiere a new piece of music there, and top touring acts typically booked spots there years in advance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Growing up around horses and with his father a jockey, the singer said he loved ponies and eventually started riding racehorses at 14 years old.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
He had no way of knowing, but so did his jockey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
A jockey is no mere passenger on a racehorse.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
They press vinyl to sell at shows, and it gets into the hands of disc jockeys at ever-larger radio stations with an increasing number of watts behind their broadcasts.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
If the pace is slower, jockeys on the other horses, such as Jose Ortiz on Golden Tempo, will have to be careful not to drop too far back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
The new strategy also identified a significant underrepresentation in female jockeys, with only 25% of jockeys being women despite them making up 70% of racing school students and 50% of racing staff.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
But for family drama, nothing beats the one between two jockeys named Davis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Most jockeys took a more straightforward approach: the radical diet, consisting of six hundred calories a day.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Historically, monarchs had a court of advisers, diplomats and merchants who jockeyed for proximity to limitless power.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
It has also jockeyed with Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer in OPEC, for regional clout.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026
“We recall the cloud transformation cycle about five years ago when leading cybersecurity firms jockeyed for market share, and we are witnessing the same phenomenon in the current AI super cycle secular wave.”
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
As TV producers jockeyed for scoops and access, prosecutors in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, in Fort Worth, were faced with another task.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
Their purple forms flickered as they jockeyed for places.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
They are all jockeying for position in an uncertain future.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
His long stay abroad has also stoked talk of a post-Biya future and accelerated jockeying among would-be successors as questions over who might replace him persist.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
No document has been more examined than the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, down to the placement of commas, as if the terms meant anything to those jockeying over it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Some locals say the renewed jockeying for clients is the latest distraction from the fight over the toxins they believe are polluting their home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Throngs of people were jockeying for position in ticket lines that snaked up and down the block.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
