Definitions

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

  • noun Sports One who rides horses in races, especially as a profession.
  • noun Informal One whose occupation or hobby involves a specified machine, device, or object.
  • intransitive verb Sports To ride (a horse) as jockey.
  • intransitive verb To direct or maneuver by cleverness or skill.
  • intransitive verb To trick; cheat.
  • intransitive verb Sports To ride a horse in a race.
  • intransitive verb To maneuver for a certain position or advantage.
  • intransitive verb To employ trickery.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.
  • noun Same as jockey-weight.
  • noun [capitalized] A Northern English and Scotch diminutive of Jock, Jack; specifically, a Scotchman.
  • noun A strolling minstrel.
  • noun A groom; a rider or driver of horses; specifically, a man or boy employed to ride horses in races.
  • noun A dealer in horses; especially, a horse-dealer who is given to cheating; a tricky horse-trader: more commonly called a horse-jockey.
  • noun A cheat; one who deceives or takes undue advantage in trade: from the reputation of horse-traders for trickery.
  • noun 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.
  • noun In mech., same as jockey-wheel.
  • noun A thin walking-stick.

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

  • transitive verb “ To jostle by riding against one.”
  • transitive verb To play the jockey toward; to cheat; to trick; to impose upon in trade.
  • transitive verb To maneuver; to move in an intricate manner so as to avoid obstacles.
  • intransitive verb To play or act the jockey; to cheat.
  • intransitive verb To maneuver oneself aggressivley or skillfully so as to achieve an advantage.
  • noun A professional rider of horses in races.
  • noun A dealer in horses; a horse trader.
  • noun A cheat; one given to sharp practice in trade.

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

  • noun One who rides racehorses competitively.
  • noun That part of a variable resistor or potentiometer that rides over the resistance wire
  • noun An operator of some machinery or apparatus.
  • verb To ride (a horse) in a race.
  • verb To maneuver (something) by skill for one's advantage.
  • verb To cheat or trick.

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

  • verb defeat someone through trickery or deceit
  • verb ride a racehorse as a professional jockey
  • verb compete (for an advantage or a position)
  • noun an operator of some vehicle or machine or apparatus
  • noun someone employed to ride horses in horse races

Etymologies

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

[Diminutive of Scots Jock, variant of Jack; see jack.]

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Examples

Comments

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

    July 14, 2009

  • Various state and civil society organizations jockeyed with each other to speak on behalf of Islam and, equally important, to instruct the state in matters of morality and religion.

    March 1, 2018