jot
Americanverb (used with object)
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jots,
present (3rd person singular)
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jotted,
past participle, past
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jotting
present participle
noun
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jots
plural
idioms
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jotsimple
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jotssimple
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have jottedperfect
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has jottedperfect
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am jottingprogressive
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are jottingprogressive
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is jottingprogressive
-
have been jottingperfect progressive
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has been jottingperfect progressive
Past
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jottedsimple
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had jottedperfect
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was jottingprogressive
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were jottingprogressive
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had been jottingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jot
1520–30; earlier iot, iote < Latin iōta < Greek iôta iota
Explanation
When you jot something, you write it quickly. You might jot down a friend's email address on the back of your grocery list. It's most common to use the verb jot with down: "Hang on, let me jot down the appointment time." It's a good word to use when you're writing a brief note, a phone number, or a list — especially when you're doing it in a hurry. The earliest meaning of jot is "a tiny bit," which comes from the Latin word jota, an alternate spelling of the Greek iota, the smallest letter in the alphabet or the smallest amount of something.
Vocabulary lists containing jot
The Circuit
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Because of Mr. Terupt
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The Lions of Little Rock
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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:
If I ate a soup I liked out in the world, I’d jot down what was in it, what the broth tasted like, sometimes sketch the bowl.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Launched in 1996, the site would generate printable directions between two points, which users would then either have to jot down or print out before heading out on their journey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
I’m looking for A.I. to help me jot down and store my thoughts in the right place when I’m not in a position to easily do that.
From Slate ● May 24, 2026
Bring a paper copy of your passport with you, know where the embassy is located in the country you’re traveling to and jot down the country’s emergency phone number.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 9, 2026
One way to fashion an outline is to jot your ideas on a page or on index cards more or less at random and then look for ones that seem to belong together.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
When Siri questions Killian, she jots down another observation: “hiding something.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Cassyette says she often feels things physically before she understands them – so she jots down the symptoms, and returns to them later to examine why she feels uncomfortable or elated or exhausted.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2024
She pairs strong and struggling students, reads questions aloud and jots down dictated answers for students to rewrite in their own handwriting.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
Leno weighs them, takes their temperature and jots details of each visit by hand in a record book with a tattered yellow cover.
From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2023
As I talk, he jots down notes on a piece of paper, but stops when I get to the part about Dr.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
I chose a company whose name I had jotted down in my notes app a year ago after someone recommended it at a party.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Regulars had their usual jotted down in shorthand and kept in a folder to be used as soon as they walked in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Mangione, wearing gray suits, jotted information on a notepad and occasionally whispered with his attorneys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Scott Sperry jotted his name down on a sign-up sheet.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025
Last year, only one entry, and this year is already half over and I haven’t jotted down a single word.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
About 8,000 miles from the Middle East, where U.S. forces massed over the past month to prepare for war, Heather Griffith has been jotting a string of rising numbers into a notebook.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
Try jotting down three fractions separated by multiplication signs: earnings/sales x sales/assets x assets/equity.
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
Daydreaming his way through the galleries, jotting jokes in his notepad, is when he first gained an appreciation for the arts.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2025
Williams recommends jotting down the fears about money that are holding you back.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2024
I started visiting bookstores in Johannesburg with a notebook in hand and would read scores of tennis and exercise books, jotting down pointers.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
