jacket
Americannoun
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jackets
plural
-
a short coat, in any of various forms, usually opening down the front.
-
something designed to be placed around the upper part of the body for a specific purpose other than use as clothing.
a life jacket.
-
a protective outer covering.
-
the skin of a potato, especially when it has been cooked.
-
the cover of a paperbound book, usually bearing an illustration.
-
a paper or cardboard envelope for protecting a phonograph record.
-
a metal casing, as the steel covering of a cannon, the steel cover around the core of a bullet, or the water jacket on certain types of machine guns.
-
a folded paper or open envelope containing an official document.
verb (used with object)
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jackets,
present (3rd person singular)
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jacketed,
past participle, past
-
jacketing
present participle
noun
-
a short coat, esp one that is hip-length and has a front opening and sleeves
-
something that resembles this or is designed to be worn around the upper part of the body
a life jacket
-
any exterior covering or casing, such as the insulating cover of a boiler
-
the part of the cylinder block of an internal-combustion engine that encloses the coolant
-
See dust jacket
-
-
the skin of a baked potato
-
( as modifier )
jacket potatoes
-
-
a metal casing used in certain types of ammunition
-
Brit name: sleeve. a cover to protect a gramophone record
-
a folder or envelope to hold documents
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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underjacketnoun
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jacket-likeadjective
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jacketedadjective
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jacketlessadjective
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jacketlikeadjective
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unjacketedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jacketsimple
-
jacketssimple
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have jacketedperfect
-
has jacketedperfect
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am jacketingprogressive
-
are jacketingprogressive
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is jacketingprogressive
-
have been jacketingperfect progressive
-
has been jacketingperfect progressive
Past
-
jacketedsimple
-
had jacketedperfect
-
was jacketingprogressive
-
were jacketingprogressive
-
had been jacketingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jacket
1425–75; late Middle English jaket < Middle French ja ( c ) quet, equivalent to jaque jack 4 + -et -et
Explanation
A jacket is a lightweight or cropped coat. Most jackets end at your waist or hips, while coats can be much longer. If you have outerwear made of denim or leather, feel free to call them jackets. Jackets are generally long-sleeved and fasten with zippers, snaps, or buttons down the front. Other meanings of jacket generally include the sense of "outer covering," like a book jacket or the insulating jacket around your house's pipes. The word comes from the Middle French jaquet, "short coat with sleeves," from the Old French jacque, "tunic."
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:
British Vogue noted after the appointment that Rose counts Rihanna and Timothee Chalamet as fans, and that rap star Kendrick Lamar wore a custom-made jacket for his wildly popular Super Bowl halftime performance last year.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
Similar gusts almost set him on fire as sparks from his pipe were blown onto his jacket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Others she donates or sells, including recently getting £30 for a men's Barbour jacket.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Dressed in a ball cap, jeans and a Carhartt jacket, he quipped to one attendee that he was going as “the real Dan” for Halloween.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
She’s a petite blonde woman with a badge pinned to her jacket.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Mostly dressed in variations of dark jackets and trousers, long scarves and open-neck shirts, he would often make a beeline for the media scrum outside the courthouse.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Clad in caps and jackets emblazoned with their respective national symbols, Lantratova and Lubinets, often appearing side-by-side, on Friday oversaw the local ceasefire in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026
One of them is this place called Golden Age that has all these old French tour jackets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Under trees, volunteers in yellow reflector jackets stood their ground helping those overcome by the fumes.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
I picture officers in navy jackets throwing my makeup collection into a trash bag or selling my clothes at a garage sale.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
A slightly overcast sky for the first race eventually gave way to sunshine, warming the mostly jacketed crowd announced at 37,143.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
Shooting a 160-grain jacketed bullet at almost 2,000 feet per second, it was a speed demon at the time.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 14, 2020
The narrow two-story bar, jacketed in reclaimed fence boards and local art, became a hangout for the city’s artists, musicians and writers, as well as waiters, bartenders and baristas.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2020
The open kitchen was crowded, too, as a crew of jacketed cooks prepped and flipped patties.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2017
Half a dozen nurses, trousered and jacketed in the regulation white viscose-linen uniform, their hair aseptically hidden under white caps, were engaged in setting out bowls of roses in a long row across the floor.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
The students have been asked to design a new fabric to be used for menswear sport jacketing.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2023
Book jackets so seldom reflect the nature of what they are jacketing that Philippe Halsman's photo for this collection of Author Moravia's short stories deserves attention.
From Time Magazine Archive
It has the advantage over methods of lagging or jacketing that the manure can be thrown over any pipe, water-seal, washing apparatus, &c., even if the plant is constructed in several separate items.
From Acetylene, the Principles of Its Generation and Use A Practical Handbook on the Production, Purification, and Subsequent Treatment of Acetylene for the Development of Light, Heat, and Power by F. H. (Frank Henley) Leeds
But I had grown too used to the jacket during my incorrigible days to let a single jacketing injure me.
From The Jacket (Star-Rover) by Jack London
Bullets differed only in jacketing and the shape of the nose.
From Louisiana Lou A Western Story by William West Winter
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