jimmy
1 Americannoun
-
jimmies
plural
-
a short crowbar.
-
a large male crab, especially of Chesapeake Bay.
verb (used with object)
-
jimmies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jimmied,
past participle, past
-
jimmying
present participle
noun
-
jimmies
plural
noun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jimmysimple
-
jimmiessimple
-
have jimmiedperfect
-
has jimmiedperfect
-
am jimmyingprogressive
-
are jimmyingprogressive
-
is jimmyingprogressive
-
have been jimmyingperfect progressive
-
has been jimmyingperfect progressive
Past
-
jimmiedsimple
-
had jimmiedperfect
-
was jimmyingprogressive
-
were jimmyingprogressive
-
had been jimmyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jimmy1
1840–50; generic use of Jimmy; cf. jack 1
Origin of jimmy2
1835–45; rhyming slang; Jimmy (Grant), for immigrant
Explanation
To jimmy something is to force it open. If you lock yourself out, you can jimmy a window and climb inside your house. Or you could just use that key that's hidden under a rock by the door. A thief might jimmy a car door to steal its stereo, and if you accidentally paint your kitchen window shut, you may have to jimmy it open. The verb jimmy comes from the noun jimmy, or "short crow bar," the kind of tool you'd use to jimmy something. In the 1800s, this type of crowbar was popular with burglars.
Vocabulary lists containing jimmy
The Sword of Summer
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Every Falling Star
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The Last Cuentista
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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:
A ground crew member had managed to jimmy the window open, passenger Matt Rexroad told FOX5SanDiego.com.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2023
“Unfortunately, inside of our system in certain units, our detainees have the ability to jimmy their locks,” Edwards said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2021
“Imagine the idea of the American government convincing a foreign manufacturer to jimmy equipment in its favor,” the history says.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2020
Without a trace of fondness, forward Jay Beagle remembers battling Oshie in the corners, trying to jimmy the puck free.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2016
And you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. jimmy snyder.
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
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On television, he won an Emmy Award in 1993 for his role as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in David E Kelley's drama Picket Fences.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
That sounds unhinged if you have seen the viral Jimmy Kimmel video with his aunt screaming in a driverless car.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
A few weeks ago, Talarico went on Jimmy Kimmel’s show—that has 15 million views on YouTube.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
The professional ballroom dancer also slammed rumors that she was at all dissatisfied with her celebrity pairing alongside 55-year-old Rodriguez, the talk show sidekick to Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
“We don’t need your permission to make a decision for my father,” Jimmy countered.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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She fashioned little carts of coke — the hard coal used to heat ore — using jimmies and dragées.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
A small boy appears, jimmies the flaps off with a dinner knife and instructs the man in how to make a paper airplane.
From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2011
The real deal is a pro-biotic, slightly sour dessert that no amount of jimmies can make palatable, at least to me.
From Time ● Aug. 3, 2010
Instead of a bushel, we’d shoot to catch a dozen or dozen and a half of good jimmies, enough for lunch.
From Washington Post
He jimmies it up a few inches but then immediately shuts it when he gets dust in his eye.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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I had to use the trunk opener inside the glove compartment, which, of course, had been jimmied open, and I kept closed with duct tape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
“So I jimmied the lock, started taking paper towels and put them in the AP teletype.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2022
They peered at the famous door that was jimmied during the Watergate burglary.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2019
They quickly jimmied the door open, popped the trunk and rescued a Brazilian couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, who’d paid $20,000 a piece to be smuggled to New York.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 27, 2019
We could move it back and forth with our hands and lean it way to the side when we jimmied it from underneath with a pick.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
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By now, Zhao’s at it again with the crowbar, jimmying our hearts open for one last tearjerk.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025
“I wasn’t really thinking about the fight at the time,” Forsyth said of his moments jimmying his way into the FBI office.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2021
Mercifully, the show mostly avoids the usual jukebox pitfall of jimmying in songs to reflect the plot in literal ways.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2019
Mr. Baugh went to work, officials said, backing his truck up, jimmying the offending vehicle’s window and hastily removing the S.U.V. — with 15 seconds to spare.
From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2015
Nearly every afternoon, he commuted home to coach Louie, running alongside him, subduing the jimmying elbows and teaching him strategy.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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