jack

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“
Play in Order, or Power Off. Between the switch and the jack is a status light that indicates how much life is left in the battery.

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Definitions (140)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (26)

  1. noun Informal A man; a fellow.
  2. noun One who does odd or heavy jobs; a laborer.
  3. noun One who works in a specified manual trade. Often used in combination: a lumberjack; a steeplejack.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (94)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

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Examples (50)

  • In England, it became known as the jack-o'-lantern or corpse-candle or will-o'-the-wisp, from "William with the wisp."
  • A floor jack is a specialized jack, available at auto supply stores, he explained, not the sort of jack that comes with the car. —  Wheels
  • Play in Order, or Power Off. Between the switch and the jack is a status light that indicates how much life is left in the battery. —  Top Stories - Google News
  • I also like the mini-jack, which is straight rather than right-angled. —  Audiophile Audition Headlines
  • "Consolidating this Layer 1 functionality -- a jack is a jack and cable is cable and it's all in the same closet now -- prevents us from having two people doing the same thing and adds more efficiency to our staff." —  Channelworld
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

connector ·  plug ·  adapter ·  socket ·  roulette ·  outlet ·  headset ·  switch ·  cord ·  cable ·  microphone ·  casino

Used in the same contextWord Family

jack:   Jack ·  jacked ·  jacking
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From the name Jack, from Middle English Jakke, possibly from Old French Jacques, from Late Latin Iacōbus; see Jacob. N., sense 15, short for jack shit.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from ME, Jacke, Jake, Jak, as a personal name, and familiarly, like modern Jack, dial. Jock, as a general appellative; from Old French Jaque, Jaques (Anglo-French also Jake, Jaikes), later Jacques, modern F. Jacques, a very common personal name, James, Jacob, = Spanish Jago (formerly written Iago), also Diego = Portuguese Diogo, these being reduced forms of the name, which appears also, in semblance nearer the Late Latin, as English Jacob= French Jacobe = Spanish Jacobo = Italian Giacobo, Giacobbe, Jacopo, and, with altered termination (b to m), Italian Giacomo, Jachimo = Spanish contr. Jaime = Portuguese Jayme = Old French Jakemes, contr, Jaime, Jams, James, later rare MB. James, Jamys, early modern English Jeames (later diminutive Jem, Jim), now James; Anglo-Saxon Iacob = D. G. Danish Icelandic, etc., Jakob; from Late Latin Jacōbus, from Greek )Ιάκωβος, from Hebrew Ya'aqōb, Jacob, literally ‘one who takes by the heel,’ a supplanter, from 'āqab, take by the heel, supplant (see Gen. xxv. 26, xxvii, 36). The name Jack is thus a doublet of Jake (still used as a conscious abbreviation of Jacob, and occasionally in the same general sense as Jack, as in country jake, applied in the U. S. to a rustic), as well as of James, all being reduced forms of Jacob; but on passing into English Jack came to be regarded as a familiar synonym or diminutive of John (Middle English Jan, Jon, etc., dim, Jankin, Jenkin, etc.), and is now so accepted. The F. name Jacques, being extremely common, came to be used as a general term for a man, particularly a young man, of common or menial condition; so English Jack, and its synonym John, which is similarly used, in its various forms, in other languages. From this use of Jack, as equivalent to ‘lad, boy, servant’ (cf. jock, jockey), has arisen its modern English use as a purely common noun, alone or in comp., applied to various contrivances which do the work of a common servant or are subjected to rough usage. Cf. billy, jemmy, jimmy, betty, etc., likewise from familiar personal names, jemmy or jimmy being ult. identical with jack.
  2. from jack, n., 11.
  3. from ME, jacke, jakke, jak, a jack, =Old Dutch jakke, Dutch jak=Swedish jacka—Danish jakke= G. jacke, a jacket, jerkin, from Old French jaque, jacque, jacq, jaique, jacke, dial. (Norman) jakc= Spanish juco= Italian giaco, formerly giacco, a jack or coat of mail. Origin obscure; perhaps, like jack in other material senses, ult. from Old French Jaque, Jacques, a personal name: see jack. Dim. jacket, q.v.
  4. Englished from jak, jaca: see jaca-tree.
 

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/dʒæk/
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