jack

¹

[ jak ]

noun

1. any of various portable devices for raising or lifting heavy objects short heights, using various mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic methods.
2. Also called knave. Cards. a playing card bearing the picture of a soldier or servant.
3. Electricity. a connecting device in an electrical circuit designed for the insertion of a plug.
4. Jack, Informal. fellow; buddy; man (usually used in addressing a stranger):

   Hey, Jack, which way to Jersey?

5. Also called jackstone. Games.
   1. one of a set of small metal objects having six prongs, used in the game of jacks.
   2. one of any other set of objects, as pebbles, stones, etc., used in the game of jacks.
   3. jacks, (used with a singular verb) a children's game in which small metal objects, stones, pebbles, or the like, are tossed, caught, and moved on the ground in a number of prescribed ways, usually while bouncing a rubber ball.
6. any of several carangid fishes, especially of the genus Caranx, as C. hippos crevalle jack, or jack crevalle, of the western Atlantic Ocean.
7. Slang. money:

   He won a lot of jack at the races.

8. Slang: Vulgar. jack shit.
9. Nautical.
   1. a small flag flown at the jack staff of a ship, bearing a distinctive design usually symbolizing the nationality of the vessel.
   2. Also called jack crosstree. either of a pair of crosstrees at the head of a topgallant mast, used to hold royal shrouds away from the mast.
10. Jack, a sailor.
11. lumberjack ( def 1 ).
12. applejack.
13. jack rabbit.
14. jackass ( def 1 ).
15. jacklight.
16. a device for turning a spit.
17. a small wooden rod in the mechanism of a harpsichord, spinet, or virginal that rises when the key is depressed and causes the attached plectrum to strike the string.
18. Lawn Bowling. a small, usually white bowl or ball used as a mark for the bowlers to aim at.
19. Also called clock jack. Horology. a mechanical figure that strikes a clock bell.
20. a premigratory young male salmon.
21. Theater. brace jack.
22. Falconry. the male of a kestrel, hobby, or especially of a merlin.

verb (used with object)

1. to lift or move (something) with or as if with a jack (usually followed by up ):

   to jack a car up to change a flat tire.

2. Informal. to increase, raise, or accelerate (prices, wages, speed, etc.) (usually followed by up ).
3. Informal. to boost the morale of; encourage (usually followed by up ).
4. Slang. to mess up, ruin, or injure (usually followed by up ): I jacked my shoulder when I fell.

   The paint job was all jacked up.

   I jacked my shoulder when I fell.

5. to jacklight.

verb (used without object)

1. to jacklight.

adjective

1. Carpentry. having a height or length less than that of most of the others in a structure; cripple:

   jack rafter; jack truss.

verb phrase

1. Slang. to give oneself an injection of a controlled substance:

   After 30 heroin-free days, he was let out for the afternoon and came straight to my door, begging to jack up.

2. Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.

jack

²

[ jak ]

verb (used with object)

, Slang.

1. to steal: Hackers jacked my email account in a phishing scam.

   Some neighborhood kids jacked her car and took it for a joyride.

   Hackers jacked my email account in a phishing scam.

2. to rob:

   He got jacked on his way home from the club.

jack

³

[ jak ]

noun

1. jackfruit.

jack

⁴

[ jak ]

noun

1. a defensive coat, usually of leather, worn in medieval times by foot soldiers and others.
2. a container for liquor, originally of waxed leather coated with tar.

Jack

⁵

[ jak ]

noun

1. a male given name, form of Jacob or John.

jack

¹

/ dʒæk /

noun

1. short for jackfruit

Jack

²

/ dʒæk /

noun

1. I'm all right, Jack informal.
   1. a remark indicating smug and complacent selfishness
   2. ( as modifier )

      an ``I'm all right, Jack'' attitude

jack

³

/ dʒæk /

noun

1. a man or fellow
2. a sailor
3. the male of certain animals, esp of the ass or donkey
4. a mechanical or hydraulic device for exerting a large force, esp to raise a heavy weight such as a motor vehicle
5. any of several mechanical devices that replace manpower, such as a contrivance for rotating meat on a spit
6. one of four playing cards in a pack, one for each suit, bearing the picture of a young prince; knave
7. bowls a small usually white bowl at which the players aim with their own bowls
8. electrical engineering a female socket with two or more terminals designed to receive a male plug ( jack plug ) that either makes or breaks the circuit or circuits
9. a flag, esp a small flag flown at the bow of a ship indicating the ship's nationality Compare Union Jack
10. nautical either of a pair of crosstrees at the head of a topgallant mast used as standoffs for the royal shrouds
11. a part of the action of a harpsichord, consisting of a fork-shaped device on the end of a pivoted lever on which a plectrum is mounted
12. any of various tropical and subtropical carangid fishes, esp those of the genus Caranx, such as C. hippos ( crevalle jack )
13. Also calledjackstone one of the pieces used in the game of jacks
14. short for applejack bootjack jackass jackfish jack rabbit lumberjack
15. a slang word for money
16. every man jack
    everyone without exception
17. the jack slang.
    venereal disease

adjective

1. jack of slang.
   tired or fed up with (something)

verb

1. to lift or push (an object) with a jack
2. electrical engineering to connect (an electronic device) with another by means of a jack and a jack plug
3. Alsojacklight to hunt (fish or game) by seeking them out or dazzling them with a flashlight

jack

⁴

/ dʒæk /

noun

1. a short sleeveless coat of armour of the Middle Ages, consisting usually of a canvas base with metal plates
2. archaic.
   a drinking vessel, often of leather

Word History and Origins

Origin of jack¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English jakke, Jakke used in addressing any male, especially a social inferior, variant of Jakken, variant of Jankin, equivalent to Jan “John” + -kin diminutive suffix; extended in sense to anything male, and as a designation for a variety of inanimate objects; John, -kin

Origin of jack²

First recorded in 1930–35; shortening of hijack ( def )

Origin of jack³

First recorded in 1605–15; from Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam cakka

Origin of jack⁴

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English jakke, from Middle French jaque(s), “short, plain upper garment,” probably after jacques “peasant” ( Jacquerie )

Word History and Origins

Origin of jack¹

C17: from Portuguese jaca ; see jackfruit

Origin of jack²

C16 jakke , variant of Jankin , diminutive of John

Origin of jack³

C14: from Old French jaque , of uncertain origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. every man jack, everyone without exception:

   They presented a formidable opposition, every man jack of them.

More idioms and phrases containing jack

• before you can say Jack Robinson

Example Sentences

Every other element of Christmas is also jacked: the snowmen, the polar bears and even the elves or, rather, the E.L.F.

From Los Angeles Times

A muscular, red bandanna wearing “hot, jacked” version of Trump was introduced by impressionist James Austin Johnson, who said as Trump, “They finally got the body right.”

From Los Angeles Times

But more than half the opponents said they might change their minds if the U.S. were to withdraw its troops or jack up the price of U.S. protection, as Trump has threatened.

From Los Angeles Times

Most homeowners had locked in low mortgage rates before the Federal Reserve began jacking up interest rates in March 2022 to curb inflation.

From Los Angeles Times

Among them: beaded condensation dripping over products, employees moving racks of coolers between lines without changing personal protective equipment and a sample collected from a pallet jack that tested positive for listeria.

From Los Angeles Times