Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Jack

Jack

(jăk)
,
Noun.
[Pg.
jaca
, Malayalam,
tsjaka
.]
(Bot.)
A large tree, the
Artocarpus integrifolia
, common in the East Indies, closely allied to the breadfruit, from which it differs in having its leaves entire. The fruit is of great size, weighing from thirty to forty pounds, and through its soft fibrous matter are scattered the seeds, which are roasted and eaten. The wood is of a yellow color, fine grain, and rather heavy, and is much used in cabinetwork. It is also used for dyeing a brilliant yellow.
[Written also
jak
.]

Jack

(jăk)
,
Noun.
[F.
Jacques
James, L.
Jacobus
, Gr. [GREEK], Heb.
Ya ’aqōb
Jacob; prop., seizing by the heel; hence, a supplanter. Cf.
Jacobite
,
Jockey
.]
1.
A familiar nickname of, or substitute for,
John
.
You are John Rugby, and you are
Jack
Rugby.
Shakespeare
2.
An impertinent or silly fellow; a simpleton; a boor; a clown; also, a servant; a rustic.
“Jack fool.”
Chaucer.
Since every
Jack
became a gentleman,
There 's many a gentle person made a
Jack
.
Shakespeare
3.
A popular colloquial name for a sailor; – called also
Jack tar
, and
Jack afloat
.
4.
A mechanical contrivance, an auxiliary machine, or a subordinate part of a machine, rendering convenient service, and often supplying the place of a boy or attendant who was commonly called Jack
; as:
(a)
A device to pull off boots.
(b)
A sawhorse or sawbuck.
(c)
A machine or contrivance for turning a spit; a smoke
jack
, or kitchen
jack
.
(b)
(Mining)
A wooden wedge for separating rocks rent by blasting.
(e)
(Knitting Machine)
A lever for depressing the sinkers which push the loops down on the needles.
(f)
(Warping Machine)
A grating to separate and guide the threads; a heck box.
(g)
(Spinning)
A machine for twisting the sliver as it leaves the carding machine.
(h)
A compact, portable machine for planing metal.
(i)
A machine for slicking or pebbling leather.
(k)
A system of gearing driven by a horse power, for multiplying speed.
(l)
A hood or other device placed over a chimney or vent pipe, to prevent a back draught.
(m)
In the harpsichord, an intermediate piece communicating the action of the key to the quill; – called also
hopper
.
(n)
In hunting, the pan or frame holding the fuel of the torch used to attract game at night; also, the light itself.
C. Hallock.
5.
A portable machine variously constructed, for exerting great pressure, or lifting or moving a heavy body such as an automobile through a small distance. It consists of a lever, screw, rack and pinion, hydraulic press, or any simple combination of mechanical powers, working in a compact pedestal or support and operated by a lever, crank, capstan bar, etc. The name is often given to a jackscrew, which is a kind of jack.
6.
The small bowl used as a mark in the game of bowls.
Shak.
Like an uninstructed bowler who thinks to attain the
jack
by delivering his bowl straight forward upon it.
Sir W. Scott.
7.
The male of certain animals, as of the ass.
8.
(Zool.)
(a)
A young pike; a pickerel.
(b)
The jurel.
(c)
A large, California rock fish (
Sebastodes paucispinus
); – called also
boccaccio
, and
mérou
.
(d)
The wall-eyed pike.
9.
A drinking measure holding half a pint; also, one holding a quarter of a pint.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
10.
(Naut.)
(a)
A flag, containing only the union, without the fly, usually hoisted on a jack staff at the bowsprit cap; – called also
union jack
. The American jack is a small blue flag, with a star for each State.
(b)
A bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead, to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal shrouds; – called also
jack crosstree
.
R. H. Dana, Jr.
☞ Jack is used adjectively in various senses. It sometimes designates something cut short or diminished in size; as, a jack timber; a jack rafter; a jack arch, etc.
Jack arch
,
an arch of the thickness of one brick.
–
Jack back
(Brewing & Malt Vinegar Manuf.)
,
a cistern which receives the wort. See under 1st
Back
.
–
Jack block
(Naut.)
,
a block fixed in the topgallant or royal rigging, used for raising and lowering light masts and spars.
–
Jack boots
,
boots reaching above the knee; – worn in the 17 century by soldiers; afterwards by fishermen, etc.
–
Jack crosstree
.
(Naut.)
See 10, b, above.
–
Jack curlew
(Zool.)
,
the whimbrel.
–
Jack frame
.
(Cotton Spinning)
See 4
(g)
, above.
–
Jack Frost
,
frost or cold weather personified as a mischievous person.
–
Jack hare
,
a male hare.
Cowper.
–
Jack lamp
,
a lamp for still hunting and camp use. See def. 4
(n.)
, above.
–
Jack plane
,
a joiner's plane used for coarse work.
–
Jack post
,
one of the posts which support the crank shaft of a deep-well-boring apparatus.
–
Jack pot
(Poker Playing)
,
the name given to the stakes, contributions to which are made by each player successively, till such a hand is turned as shall take the “pot,” which is the sum total of all the bets. See also
jackpot
.
–
Jack rabbit
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of large American hares, having very large ears and long legs. The California species (
Lepus Californicus
), and that of Texas and New Mexico (
Lepus callotis
), have the tail black above, and the ears black at the tip. They do not become white in winter. The more northern prairie hare (
Lepus campestris
) has the upper side of the tail white, and in winter its fur becomes nearly white.
–
Jack rafter
(Arch.)
,
in England, one of the shorter rafters used in constructing a hip or valley roof; in the United States, any secondary roof timber, as the common rafters resting on purlins in a trussed roof; also, one of the pieces simulating extended rafters, used under the eaves in some styles of building.
–
Jack salmon
(Zool.)
,
the wall-eyed pike, or glasseye.
–
Jack sauce
,
an impudent fellow.
[Colloq. & Obs.]
–
Jack shaft
(Mach.)
,
the first intermediate shaft, in a factory or mill, which receives power, through belts or gearing, from a prime mover, and transmits it, by the same means, to other intermediate shafts or to a line shaft.
–
Jack sinker
(Knitting Mach.)
,
a thin iron plate operated by the jack to depress the loop of thread between two needles.
–
Jack snipe
.
(Zool.)
See in the Vocabulary.
–
Jack staff
(Naut.)
,
a staff fixed on the bowsprit cap, upon which the jack is hoisted.
–
Jack timber
(Arch.)
,
any timber, as a rafter, rib, or studding, which, being intercepted, is shorter than the others.
–
Jack towel
,
a towel hung on a roller for common use.
–
Jack truss
(Arch.)
,
in a hip roof, a minor truss used where the roof has not its full section.
–
Jack tree
.
(Bot.)
See 1st
Jack
,
Noun.
–
Jack yard
(Naut.)
,
a short spar to extend a topsail beyond the gaff.
Blue jack
,
blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.
–
Hydraulic jack
,
a jack used for lifting, pulling, or forcing, consisting of a compact portable hydrostatic press, with its pump and a reservoir containing a supply of liquid, as oil.
–
Jack-at-a-pinch
.
(a)
One called upon to take the place of another in an emergency
.
(b)
An itinerant parson who conducts an occasional service for a fee.
–
Jack-at-all-trades
,
one who can turn his hand to any kind of work.
–
Jack-by-the-hedge
(Bot.)
,
a plant of the genus
Erysimum
(
Erysimum alliaria
, or
Alliaria officinalis
), which grows under hedges. It bears a white flower and has a taste not unlike garlic. Called also, in England,
sauce-alone
.
Eng. Cyc.
–
Jack-in-office
,
an insolent fellow in authority.
Wolcott.
–
Jack-in-the-bush
(Bot.)
,
a tropical shrub with red fruit (
Cordia Cylindrostachya
).
–
Jack-in-the-green
,
a chimney sweep inclosed in a framework of boughs, carried in Mayday processions.
–
Jack-of-the-buttery
(Bot.)
,
the stonecrop (
Sedum acre
).
–
Jack-of-the-clock
,
a figure, usually of a man, on old clocks, which struck the time on the bell.
–
Jack-on-both-sides
,
one who is or tries to be neutral.
–
Jack-out-of-office
,
one who has been in office and is turned out.
Shak.
–
Jack the Giant Killer
,
the hero of a well-known nursery story.
–
Yellow Jack
(Naut.)
,
the yellow fever; also, the quarantine flag. See
Yellow flag
, under
Flag
.

Jack

,
Noun.
[F.
jaque
,
jacque
, perh. from the proper name
Jacques
. Cf.
Jacquerie
.]
A coarse and cheap mediæval coat of defense, esp. one made of leather.
Their horsemen are with
jacks
for most part clad.
Sir J. Harrington.

Jack

,
Noun.
[Named from its resemblance to a
jack boot
.]
A pitcher or can of waxed leather; – called also
black jack
.
[Obs.]
Dryden.

Jack

,
Verb.
I.
To hunt game at night by means of a jack. See 2d
Jack
,
Noun.
, 4,
Noun.

Jack

,
Verb.
T.
To move or lift, as a house, by means of a jack or jacks. See 2d
Jack
,
Noun.
, 5.

Webster 1828 Edition

Jack

JACK

, n.
1.
A nickname or diminutive of John, used as a general term of contempt for any saucy of paltry fellow.
2.
The name of an instrument that supplies the place of a boy; an instrument to pull off boots.
3.
An engine to turn a spit; as a kitchen jack; a smoke jack.
4.
A young pike.
5.
A coat of mail.
6.
A pitcher of waxed leather.
7.
A small bowl thrown out for a mark to the bowlers.
8.
Part of a musical instrument called a virginal.
9.
The male of certain animals, as of the ass.
10. A horse or wooden frame on which wood or timer is sawed.
11. In sea-language, a flag, ensign or colors, displayed from a staff on the end of a bow-sprit.
12. In Yorkshire, half a pint. A quarter of a pint.
Jack of all trades, a person who can turn his hand to any king of business.
Jack by the hedge, a plant of the genus Erysimum, that grown under hedges.
Jack in a box, a plant of the genus Hernandia.
1.
A large wooden male screw, turning in a female one.
Jack with a lantern, an ignis fatuus, a meteor that appears in low moist lands.
Jack of the clock-house, a little man that strikes the quarters in a clock.

Definition 2024

Jack

Jack

See also: jack

English

Proper noun

Jack ‎(plural Jacks)

  1. A male given name, also used as a pet form of John.
    • ~1593 William Shakespeare: Richard III: Act I, Scene III:
      Since every Jack became a gentleman
      there's many a gentle person made a Jack.
    • 1895 Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest:
      JACK. Well, really, Gwendolen, I must say that I think that there are lots of other much nicer names. I think Jack, for instance, a charming name.
      GWENDOLEN. Jack?...No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces absolutely no vibrations...I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain. Besides, Jack is a notorious domesticity for John!
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From the common name above.

Noun

Jack ‎(plural Jacks)

  1. (informal) a placeholder or conventional name for any man, particularly a younger, lower-class man
  2. (informal, archaic) a Jack Tar, a sailor
  3. (informal, archaic) a Jack Rum, a soldier

Usage notes

Despite being a common noun, the word is still treated as a name and capitalized as such. The name is most often used with a descriptive "surname", showing the type of lad intended.

Etymology 3

Proper noun

Jack ‎(uncountable)

  1. (slang) Jack Daniel's, a brand of American whiskey.
    • 2009, "Ke$ha" (Kesha Rose Sebert), Tik Tok (song)
      Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack.

Derived terms

Danish

Etymology

From English Jack.

Proper noun

Jack

  1. A male given name.

Swedish

Etymology

From English Jack. First recorded as a Swedish name in 1883.

Proper noun

Jack

  1. A male given name.

jack

jack

See also: Jack

English

A scissor jack (mechanical device)

Noun

jack ‎(plural jacks)

  1. A mechanical device used to raise and (temporarily) support a heavy object, e.g. **** jack, scissor jack, hydraulic jack, ratchet jack, scaffold jack.
    She used a jack to lift her car and changed the tire.
  2. A man or men in general.
    Every man jack.
  3. A male animal.
  4. A male ass.
  5. (card games) A playing card with the letter "J" and the image of a knave or prince on it, the eleventh card in a given suit. Also called a knave.
  6. (archaic) A knave (a servant or later, a deceitful man).
    • 1799, THE SCOTS MAGAZINE OR GENERAL REPOSITORY OF LITERATURE, HISTORY, AND POLITICS, page 171:
      Fly may signify a winged insect, or part of a Jack. Jack itself is sometimes a roaster of meat, and at others a contraction of John, a knave, a Japan mug, or an instrument to draw off boots.
  7. Mangifera caesia, related to the mango tree.
  8. A surface-mounted connector for electrical, especially telecommunications, equipment.
    telephone jack
  9. (sports) A target ball in bowls, etc; a jack-ball.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Sir Walter Scott
      like an uninstructed bowler who thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straight forward upon it
  10. (games) A small, six-pointed playing piece used in the game of jacks.
  11. (colloquial, euphemistic) Nothing, jack ****.
    You haven't done jack. Get up and get this room cleaned up right now!
  12. (nautical) A small flag at the bow of a ship.
  13. (nautical) A naval ensign flag flown from the main mast, mizzen mast, or the aft-most major mast of (especially) British sailing warships; Union Jack.
  14. (military) A coarse and cheap medieval coat of defense, especially one made of leather.
    • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 15:
      The aketon, gambeson, vambasium, and jack were military vestments, calculated for the defence of the body, differing little from each other, except in their names, their materials and construction were nearly the same, the authorities quoted in the notes, shew they were all composed of many folds of linen, stuffed with cotton, wool or hair, quilted, and commonly covered with leather, made of buck or doe skin.
  15. A penny with a head on both sides, used for cheating.[1]
  16. (slang) Money.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, page 133:
      First off Regan carried fifteen grand, packed it in his clothes all the time. Real money, they tell me. Not just a top card and a bunch of hay. That's a lot of jack [...].
  17. (slang, Appalachians) A smooth often ovoid large gravel or small cobble in a natural water course.
  18. The freshwater pike, green pike or pickerel.
  19. A large California rockfish.
  20. Any marine fish or the species of the Carangidae family.
  21. (obsolete, nautical) A sailor, a jacktar.
  22. (obsolete) A pitcher or can of waxed leather, supposed to resemble a jackboot; a black-jack.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of John Dryden to this entry?)
    • Charles Lamb, The Essays of Elia
      He had his tea and hot rolls in a morning, while we were battening upon our quarter-of-a-penny loaf — our crug — moistened with attenuated small beer, in wooden piggings, smacking of the pitched leathern jack it was poured from.
  23. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) A drinking measure holding half a pint or, sometimes, a quarter of a pint.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
  24. A mechanical contrivance, an auxiliary machine, or a subordinate part of a machine.
    1. A device to pull off boots.
    2. A sawhorse or sawbuck.
    3. A machine for turning a spit; a smokejack.
    4. (mining) A wooden wedge for separating rocks rent by blasting.
    5. A lever for depressing the sinkers which push the loops down on the needles in a knitting machine.
    6. A grating to separate and guide the threads in a warping machine; a heck box.
    7. A machine for twisting the sliver as it leaves the carding machine.
    8. A compact, portable machine for planing metal.
    9. A machine for slicking or pebbling leather.
    10. A system of gearing driven by a horse power, for multiplying speed.
    11. A hood or other device placed over a chimney or vent pipe, to prevent a back draught.
    12. In the harpsichord, an intermediate piece communicating the action of the key to the quill; also called hopper.
    13. In hunting, the pan or frame holding the fuel of the torch used to attract game at night; also, the light itself.
      (Can we find and add a quotation of C. Hallock to this entry?)
    14. (nautical) A bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead, to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal shrouds; also called jack crosstree.
      (Can we find and add a quotation of R. H. Dana, Jr to this entry?)
  25. Female ended electrical connector (see Electrical connector)
  26. Electrical connector in a fixed position (see Gender of connectors and fasteners)
Synonyms
Derived terms
See also
Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace deuce, two three four five six seven
eight nine ten jack queen king joker
Translations

Verb

jack ‎(third-person singular simple present jacks, present participle jacking, simple past and past participle jacked)

  1. (transitive) To use a jack.
    He jacked the car up so that he could replace the brake pads.
  2. (transitive) To raise or increase.
    If you want to jack your stats you just write off failures as invalid results.
  3. To produce by freeze distillation; to distil (an alcoholic beverage) by freezing it and removing the ice (which is water), leaving the alcohol (which remains liquid).
    • 1941, Esquire, volume 15, issues 1-3, page 176:
      Fruit of the orchard has been "jacked" these many generations, with Plymouth Rockers putting the hard cider barrel down into the ground to freeze, and […]
    • 2010, Scott Mansfield, Strong Waters: A Simple Guide to Making Beer, Wine, Cider ... (ISBN 1615191127)
      The potency of a jacked beverage depends on the temperature applied to the original beverage; the colder the liquor, the more water can be frozen out […] . In New England, where this technique was historically used, people could get applejack to around 30 percent alcohol […] .
  4. (transitive, colloquial) To steal something, typically an automobile. Shortened form of carjacking.
    Someone jacked my car last night!
  5. (intransitive) To dance by moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

jack ‎(plural jacks)

  1. (slang, baseball) A home run.

Verb

jack ‎(third-person singular simple present jacks, present participle jacking, simple past and past participle jacked)

  1. (transitive, slang, baseball) To hit (the ball) hard; especially, to hit (the ball) out of the field, producing a home run.
    • 1986, in Arete: The Journal of Sport Literature, Volume 4, Sport Literature Association:
      An excellent piece of work, Wayne thought, so good in fact, he wasn’t surprised when Bailey walked to the plate and on the first pitch jacked the ball far into the parking lot outside the left-field fence for a tournament winning homerun.
    • 2004, Wayne Stewart, Hitting Secrets of the Pros: Big League Sluggers Reveal the Tricks of Their Trade, McGraw-Hill Professional, ISBN 9780071418249, page 90:
      Therefore, even though Vizquel is certainly not a power hitter, at times he will try to jack the ball, perhaps pulling it with just enough oomph to carry down the line for a homer.
    • a. 2009, Jim McManus, quoted in T.J. Lewis, A View from the Mound: My Father’s Life in Baseball, Lulu.com (publisher, 2008), ISBN 9781435714861, page 107:
      Maybe he hung a curve ball to somebody and they jacked it out of the park on him and he wasn’t upset about it.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

French jaque, jacque, perhaps from the proper name Jacques. Compare jacquerie.

Noun

jack ‎(plural jacks)

  1. A coarse mediaeval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
    • Sir J. Harrington
      Their horsemen are with jacks for most part clad.

Etymology 4

Noun

jack ‎(plural jacks)

  1. A jackfruit tree.

References

  • jack in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  1. ↑ Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, 1966, chapter XI section 3, page 243.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology

Borrowing from English jack.

Noun

jack n ‎(plural jacks, diminutive jackje n)

  1. jacket

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from English jack.

Noun

jack m (plural jacks)

  1. jack (an electronic connector mounted on a surface)

Etymology

Popular pet form of John through a Middle English form Jankin; rarely also an anglicized form of French Jacques (equivalent of Jacob and James). Though the name was originally a pet form, it has become more of an independent name.

See also Middle French Hennequin, Jannequin and Middle Dutch Janneken.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: jăk, IPA(key): /dʒæk/
  • Rhymes: -æk

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