Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Sports One who rides horses in races, especially as a profession.
- n. Slang One who operates a specified vehicle, machine, or device: a bus jockey; a computer jockey.
- v. Sports To ride (a horse) as jockey.
- v. To direct or maneuver by cleverness or skill: jockeyed the car into a tight space.
- v. To trick; cheat.
- v. Sports To ride a horse in a race.
- v. To maneuver for a certain position or advantage: jockeying for a promotion.
- v. To employ trickery.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. [capitalized] A Northern English and Scotch diminutive of Jock, Jack; specifically, a Scotchman.
- n. A strolling minstrel.
- n. A groom; a rider or driver of horses; specifically, a man or boy employed to ride horses in races.
- n. A dealer in horses; especially, a horse-dealer who is given to cheating; a tricky horse-trader: more commonly called a horse-jockey.
- n. A cheat; one who deceives or takes undue advantage in trade: from the reputation of horse-traders for trickery.
- n. In coal-mining, a self-acting apparatus carried on the front tub of a set for releasing it from the hauling-rope at a certain point.
- n. In mech., same as jockey-wheel.
- n. A thin walking-stick.
- To play the jockey to; trick; deceive in trade; hinder or defeat by trickery.
- To jostle against in racing.
- To act in the manner of a jockey; seek unfair advantage in a race, in dealing, etc.
- n. Same as jockey-weight.
Wiktionary
- n. One who rides racehorses competitively.
- n. An operator of some machinery or apparatus.
- v. To ride (a horse) in a race.
- v. To maneuver (something) by skill for one's advantage.
- v. To cheat or trick.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A professional rider of horses in races.
- n. A dealer in horses; a horse trader.
- n. A cheat; one given to sharp practice in trade.
- v. “ To jostle by riding against one.”
- v. To play the jockey toward; to cheat; to trick; to impose upon in trade.
- v. To maneuver; to move in an intricate manner so as to avoid obstacles.
- v. To play or act the jockey; to cheat.
- v. To maneuver oneself aggressivley or skillfully so as to achieve an advantage.
WordNet 3.0
- v. defeat someone through trickery or deceit
- v. ride a racehorse as a professional jockey
- v. compete (for an advantage or a position)
- n. an operator of some vehicle or machine or apparatus
- n. someone employed to ride horses in horse races
Etymologies
- Diminutive of Scots Jock, variant of Jack; see jack.
Examples
“Austere surroundings and a humdrum card, but the country's – perhaps the world's – most famous jockey is buzzing.”
The Guardian: Frankie Dettori at Newmarket ready for the few that have got away
“Britain's, and maybe the world's, most famous jockey is under no pressure as he chases elusive Dewhurst and Champion”
The Guardian: Frankie Dettori at Newmarket ready for the few that have got away
“ROVNER: Oh, the jockey is literally holding them together.”
“Dozens of howling fire-bearers in jockey shorts hustled up to the gates of Castle Frankenstein and beat on the doors until the Doctor showed his face.”
“The final three categories represent changes in jockey, equipment and weight.”
“I think that before ANY HQ jockey is allowed to spend one penny of tax payers money, or introduce ANY policy etc, he must be able to answer satisfactorily the following question;”
“He rode for 39 years, well into his 50s; the average career of a jockey is five years.”
Under the radar but on the screen: Is the best athlete a jockey?
“The board chairman sniffed righteously about how difficult it is to define pornography, would you put Michelangelo's David in jockey shorts, etc.”
“Therefore, a car stereo with RDS might show something like “Timbaland … The Way I Are … Mix 99.9 …” Hey, it beats waiting to hear if the disc jockey is going to say the name of the tune.”
“That instant fame also led to global mentions that the jockey is borderline illiterate.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘jockey’.
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Derby Day!
List of terms one could expect to hear or read in connection with the Kentucky Derby, or high-stakes horse racing in general. This is an open list.
morning line, filly, field, post, favorite, two-year-old, colt, three-year-old, lifetime starts, trained, trainer, owner and 89 more...

seanohagan In Japan, "jockey" is used to mean a pint glass of beer. Japanese Wikipedia lists "jug" as a possible source of the borrowed word. Jul 14, 2009