Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An art of weaponless self-defense developed in Japan that uses throws, holds, and blows and derives added power from the attacker's own weight and strength.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun same as jujutsu.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A method of self-defence established in Japan emphasizing “” (soft or gentle) “jitsu” (art or technique). Japanese martial art that utilizes a large variety of techniques in defense against an opponent.
  • noun Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a related art, derived from judo.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a method of self-defense without weapons that was developed in China and Japan; holds and blows are supplemented by clever use of the attacker's own weight and strength

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Japanese jūjutsu : , soft; see judo + jutsu, technique (from Early Middle Chinese ʑwit).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese 柔術 (jūjutsu).

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Examples

  • I remember the first time it clicked with me in jujitsu that i could badly hurt someone.

    Cheeseburger Gothic » Grading work, the heavy bag, a day of manuscript doctoring. 2010

  • I got as far as a green belt in jujitsu - not quite sure why I stopped at that point.

    Dojo shiai 2009

  • Both theories are fine, except for the fact that the word jujitsu can be traced back to

    Steph's blog rob 2010

  • "Authors Vladimir Putin, Vasily Shestakov, and Alexei Levitsky give a complete history of judo, from its origins in Japanese jujitsu through its development into an Olympic sport, including Russia's contributions to the art," was how the Random House publishers described the book upon its release in the U.S. in 2004.

    RIA Novosti 2008

  • It’s a complete reversal of reality, but this jujitsu is what has animated the white Southern mentality since before the Civil War, and the idea that its present exponent is a conservative Republican Senator from Tennessee is nothing surprising.

    Matthew Yglesias » “Minority Rights” and the US Senate 2010

  • Paul Krugman's NY Times column today, where he uses a little word jujitsu to highlight just how absurd McConnell's claims really are:

    Consumer Watchdog Updates 2010

  • The well-known form of martial arts known as jujitsu was created by the renowned Samurai warriors on the ancient battlefields when Japan was ruled by feudal lords.

    All Categories Featured Content - Associated Content 2009

  • Apparently, the 35-year-old is also an expert in jujitsu, which is a Far Eastern discipline a bit like origami, but involving folding people's faces instead of paper.

    WalesOnline - Home 2009

  • The well-known form of martial arts known as jujitsu was created by the renowned Samurai warriors on the ancient battlefields when Japan was ruled by feudal lords.

    All Categories Featured Content - Associated Content 2009

  • Yeah, that "jujitsu" about hardworking Americans worked really well with the "fundamentals" nonsense, too.

    Rep. John Lewis Compares McCain To George Wallace 2009

Comments

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  • It's what Keanu Reeves is "going to learn".

    As in, "Jujitsu? I'm going to learn... Jujitsu?"

    EDIT: v.v Oh the typos.

    August 15, 2009

  • WORD:jujitsu

    EXAMPLE, from Sidney Offit's foreword to the Vonnegut short story collection Look at the Birdie:

    ' At Kurt's eightieth birthday party, John Leonard, a former editor of The New York Times Book Review, reflected on the experience of knowing and reading Kurt: "Vonnegut, like Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain, is always being funny when he's not being depressed," Leonard observed. "His is a weird jujitsu that throws us for a loop. '

    --- 2009. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut">KURT VONNEGUT</a>. <b><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_at_the_Birdie">Look at the Birdie</a></i></b>. (Previously unpublished short fiction, posthumously collected, with a foreword by Sidney Offit). ISBN 978-0-385-34371-8. "Foreword." (Page viii).

    May 10, 2014