skipjack

[ skip-jak ]

/ ˈskɪpˌdʒæk /

Save This Word!

noun, plural (especially collectively) skip·jack, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) skip·jacks for 1; skip·jacks for 2, 3.

any of various fishes that leap above the surface of the water, as a tuna, Euthynnus pelamis, or the bonito.

Entomology. click beetle.

Nautical. an American one-masted sailing vessel.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of skipjack

First recorded in 1545–55; skip¹ + jack¹

Words nearby skipjack

skip bombing, skip car, skipdent, skip distance, skip it, skipjack, skiplane, skip off, ski pole, skip out, skippable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use skipjack in a sentence

In the big barn doorway the Skipjack and Willie Ramsey appeared.
Back o' the Moon|Oliver Onions
Pull the stick right over to stick on the wax, and lay the skipjack, stick downward, on the ground.
What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes|Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Congratulate the Skipjack, with just a hint that he might have looked higher.
Puppets at Large|F. Anstey
The Skipjack proved speedy and they made the run back to the hotel in good time, arriving there before sundown.
The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval Code|John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton

But when morning came, it was found that the repairs to the Skipjack would take longer than had been anticipated.
The Ocean Wireless Boys And The Naval Code|John Henry Goldfrap, AKA Captain Wilbur Lawton

British Dictionary definitions for skipjack

skipjack

/ (ˈskɪpˌdʒæk) /

noun plural -jack or -jacks

Also called: skipjack tuna an important food fish, Katsuwonus pelamis, that has a striped abdomen and occurs in all tropical seas: family Scombridae (mackerels and tunas)

black skipjack a small spotted tuna, Euthynnus yaito, of Indo-Pacific seas

any of several other unrelated fishes, such as the alewife and bonito

nautical an American sloop used for oystering and as a yacht

another name for a click beetle

Word Origin for skipjack

C18: from skip 1 + jack 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012