Word.ws English Dictionary

jack

/ˈd͡ʒæk/

jack noun: a coarse medieval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.

jack: a coarse medieval coat of defence, especially one made of leather
Image: User Interiot on en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

jack (plural jacks)

  1. A coarse medieval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
    • jack of plate
    • jack of mail

Noun (2)

jack (plural jacks)

  1. (capitalized) A name applied to a hypothetical or typical man.
    • After Dinner they frisk away to some known Place of Rendezvous, where (at Night) every Jack has his Jill and every Jill has her Jack.1723, The New-England Courant, volume 80
  2. (US, countable) A man, a fellow; a typical man; men in general.
    • Call you me daughter? now I promiſe you / You haue ſhewd a tender fatherly regard, / To wiſh me wed to one halfe Lunaticke, / A mad-cap ruffian, and a ſwearing Iacke, / That thinkes with oathes to face the matter out.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  3. (colloquial) A sailor.
    Synonyms:
    jacktar, tar
  4. (slang) A policeman or detective; (Australia) a military policeman.
    • When Wardell arrived on the scene, they were surprised to find that he was unshaven, and did not look too happy. One of them remarked: "The 'Jacks' (detectives) are after you."1935, Bernard O'Donnell, The trials of Mr. Justice Avory, page 219
    • 'I'd like you to meet DCI Henry Christie,' FB was saying. The older of the two jacks reached forward and gave Henry's right paw a quick tug.2013, Nick Oldham, Big City Jacks
  5. (archaic) A manual laborer.
  6. (Canada, US, colloquial) A lumberjack.
  7. (India, historical, slang) A sepoy.
    • I hope to God his theories will not unman him in action, that he will not be musing and refining when he should be leading the Jacks […]1855, William Delafield Arnold, Oakfield: Or, Fellowship in the East, page 280
  8. A device for turning a spit; a smokejack or roasting jack.
    • Our hero, among his other remarks, had obſerved, that in this place there was no ſuch utenſil as a jack, and that all the ſpits were turned by dogs, […]1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “They distress the housekeepers of Bath, by another mischievous contrivance. […]”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume II, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC...
  9. Each of a series of blocks in a harpsichord or the earlier virginal, communicating the action of the key to the quill; sometime also, a hopper in a modern piano.
    • Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap / To kiss the tender inward of thy hand, / Whilst my poor lips, which should that harvest reap, / At the wood's boldness by thee blushing stand!1609, Shakespeare, “Sonnet 128”, in Edward Bliss Reed, editor, Shakespeare's Sonnets, Yale University Press, published 1923, lines 1–14
    • [W]hat the devil makes you so dull, Letitia? I thought to have found you popping about as brisk as the jacks of your harpsichord.1780, Hannah Cowley, The Belle's Stratagem, I.4
  10. a tool used in manual production of glass objects (like bottles or wine glasses).
  11. (obsolete) A support for wood being sawn; a sawhorse or sawbuck.
  12. A device used to hold a boot by the heel, to assist in removing the boot.
Show 30 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A mechanical device used to raise and (temporarily) support a heavy object, now especially to lift one side of a motor vehicle when (e.g.) changing a tyre.
    • She used a jack to lift her car and changed the tire.
  2. Any of various levers for raising or lowering the sinkers which push the loops down on the needles in a knitting machine or stocking frame.
  3. (archaic) A wedge for separating rocks rent by blasting.
  4. (obsolete) A grating device used to separate and guide the threads in a warping machine; a heck-box.
  5. (obsolete) A machine for twisting the sliver as it leaves a carding machine, in the preparation of yarn.
  6. A switch for a jack plug, a jackknife switch; (more generally) a socket used to connect a device to a circuit, network etc.
    • telephone jack
    Antonyms:
    plug
  7. (historical, regional) A pitcher or other vessel for holding liquid, especially alcoholic drink; a black-jack.
    • Dead VVine that ſtinks of the Borrachio, ſup / From a fovvl Jack, or greaſie Maple Cup?1693, Aulus Persius Flaccus, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus.] The Fifth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together...
    • He had his tea and hot rolls in a morning, while we were battening upon our quarter-of-a-penny loaf—our crug—moistened with attenuated small beer, in wooden piggings, smacking of the pitched leathern jack it was poured from.1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC
  8. The lowest court card in a deck of standard playing cards, ranking between the 10 and queen, with an image of a knave or pageboy on it.
    Synonyms:
    knave
  9. (obsolete) A counter used to represent money in a gambling establishment.
  10. (bowls) A small, typically white, ball used as the target ball in bowls; a jack-ball.
    • like an uninstructed bowler, so to speak, who thinks to attain the jack, by delivering his bowl straight forward upon it1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    kitty
  11. A small ship's flag used as a signal or identifying device; a small flag flown at the bow of the vessel.
  12. (UK, archaic, historical, regional) A measure of liquid corresponding to a quarter of a pint.
    • To a pound of sugar put a jack of water.1747, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy
  13. (obsolete, slang) A fake coin designed to look like a sovereign.
  14. (archaic, historical) A jackcrosstree.
  15. A small, six-pointed playing piece used in the game of jacks.
  16. (US) A torch or other light used in hunting to attract or dazzle game at night.
    • a heron when seeing a deer attracted by the jack1930, Tappan Gregory, Deer at Night in the North Woods
  17. (US, slang) Money, cash.
    • First off Regan carried fifteen grand, packed it in his clothes all the time. Real money, they tell me. Not just a top card and a bunch of hay. That's a lot of jack (or jack-shit) […].1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 133
    • Angels come from everywhere with lots of jack, and when you lose it, there's no attack. Where could you get money that you don't give back? Let's go on with the show1946, Irving Berlin, “There's No Business Like Show Business”
  18. (Canada, US) A strong alcoholic liquor, especially home-distilled or illicit.
    • [A] quart of raisin jack was divided between us with the result that tha day proper (after the night before) was spent very quietly, watered and Bromo-Seltzered, with amusing anecdotes occasionally sprouting from towelled head to towelled head.1920, Hart Crane, letter, 14 April
  19. (euphemistic, slang) Nothing, not anything, jack shit.
    • You haven't done jack. Get up and get this room cleaned up right now!
    • Sergeant Albrecht: Hey, c'mon, read the file! Shelly Webster, held on for 30 hours in intensive care and, her body finally just gave up. I saw it man, I couldn't do jack for her.1994, The Crow, spoken by Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson), Miramax
  20. (slang) The eleventh batsman to come to the crease in an innings.
  21. (slang, Appalachians) A smooth often ovoid large gravel or small cobble in a natural water course.
  22. A pike, especially when young.
  23. (US) A male ass, especially when kept for breeding.
    Synonyms:
    jackass, jack donkey
  24. Any of the marine fish in the family Carangidae.
    Synonyms:
    jack mackerel
  25. (US) A jackrabbit.
    • Cottontails were taken along the creeks, under the willows. Their flesh was preferable to that of the jacks[…]"1932, Isabel T. Kelly, “Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiute”, in University of California Publications in California Archaeology an Ethnography, volume 31, number 3, page 88
  26. A bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis), a large California rockfish.
  27. white mango (Mangifera caesia). (See .)
  28. (colloquial) A Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema), often capitalized Jack.
    • Usually a jack that makes male flowers has only one main leaf (right), while female plants have two. […] The specific taxonomy of Jack-in-the Pulpit, a member of the Arum Family (Araceae), is rather up in the air. Some botanists believe all jacks are just one species, Arisaema triphyllum, while...2003 May 1, “Is that “Jack” in the Pulpit”, in Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
    • In fact, most male Jacks are under 14 inches tall. Most Jacks over 14 inches tend to be Jills.2013 January 6, “Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and Jill”, in Eat the Weeds
  29. (colloquial) Spadix of a plant (also capitalized Jack).
    • Lifting the flap at the top of the spathe reveals our slender and round-headed friend "Jack," known better to botanists as the spadix.2003 May 1, “Is that “Jack” in the Pulpit”, in Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
    • On every kid’s list of favourite plants is our quirky Jack-in-the-pulpit with its green, red or purple spadices (the Jacks) and hooded green-, red- or almost black-striped spathes (the pulpits).2017 May 24, Stephen Westcott-Gratton, “Purple pulpits and trilliums”, in Gardenmaking
  30. (apparently does not occur standalone for the genus per se) Any member of species of the genus Emex, also considered synonymous to Rumex, if not then containing two species lesser jack and little jack for Emex spinosa syn. Rumex spinosus, Australian English three-corner jack and prickly jack for Emex australis syn. Rumex hypogaeus.

Verb (1)

jack (third-person singular simple present jacks, present participle jacking, simple past and past participle jacked)

  1. (transitive) To physically raise using a jack.
    • He jacked the car so that he could replace the brake pads.
    • Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 111
    Synonyms:
    jack up
  2. (transitive) To raise or increase.
    • If you want to jack your stats you just write off failures as invalid results.
  3. To increase the potency of an alcoholic beverage similarly to distillation by chilling it to below the freezing point of water, removing the water ice crystals that form, and leaving the still-liquid alcoholic portion.
    • Fruit of the orchard has been "jacked" these many generations, with Plymouth Rockers putting the hard cider barrel down into the ground to freeze, and […]1941, Esquire, volume 15, numbers 1-3, page 176
    • The potency of a jacked beverage depends on the temperature applied to the original beverage; the colder the liquor, the more water can be frozen out […]. In New England, where this technique was historically used, people could get applejack to around 30 percent alcohol […].2010, Scott Mansfield, Strong Waters: A Simple Guide to Making Beer, Wine, Cider ..., →ISBN
  4. (colloquial, transitive) To steal (something), typically an automobile; to rob (someone).
    • Someone jacked my car last night!
    • A kid in a M3's getting jacked right in front of me1993, “Just Another Day”, in Black Reign, performed by Queen Latifah
  5. (intransitive) To dance by moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion.
  6. (colloquial, vulgar) To jack off, to masturbate.
    • I don't even care about mine, I can get my shit off while jacking in the shower.2017, Diamond Johnson, Finding My Way Back to Love 2, Sullivan Group Publishing, →ISBN
  7. (Memphis African-American slang) To fight.
  8. (informal, intransitive, transitive) To jerk or move by jerking; to remove or move (something).

Adjective

jack (comparative more jack, superlative most jack)

  1. (Australia) Tired, disillusioned; fed up (with).
    • In the end, black and white were both crawling on the ground in reconciliation. Both saying that they were plain jack of each other.2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 78

Noun (3)

jack (plural jacks)

  1. A jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus, syn. Artocarpus integrifolia).
    • A mock living burial of the principal performer, who is placed in a pit, which is covered with planks, on the top of which a sacrifice is performed, with a fire kindled with jack wood (Artocarpus integrifolia) and a plant called erinna.1909, Edgur Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, page 437

Noun (4)

jack (plural jacks)

  1. White mango (Mangifera caesia) of fruit-bearing plants.

Noun (5)

jack (plural jacks)

  1. (slang) A home run.
    • The year before ('76) Kingman had 37 jacks with only 502 PAs. Is that the limit?2001 October 8, Ray Dames, “Re: McGwire's Year”, in rec.sport.baseball (Usenet)
    • Me three. I never have quite understood all the "three true outcomes" fetish around here. I mean, I know that building an offense around walks and 3-run jacks embodies the Sabermetric Virtues, and especially in today's conditions that's the way to win, but man, it sure leads to some slow, boring...2002 April 18, Perry, “Re: To all you Oakland A's fans...”, in rec.sport.baseball (Usenet)

Verb (2)

jack (third-person singular simple present jacks, present participle jacking, simple past and past participle jacked)

  1. (slang, transitive) To hit (the ball) hard; especially, to hit (the ball) out of the field, producing a home run.
    • An excellent piece of work, Wayne thought, so good in fact, he wasn’t surprised when Bailey walked to the plate and on the first pitch jacked the ball far into the parking lot outside the left-field fence for a tournament winning homerun.1986, Arete: The Journal of Sport Literature, volume 4, Sport Literature Association
    • Therefore, even though Vizquel is certainly not a power hitter, at times he will try to jack the ball, perhaps pulling it with just enough oomph to carry down the line for a homer.2004, Wayne Stewart, Hitting Secrets of the Pros: Big League Sluggers Reveal the Tricks of Their Trade, McGraw-Hill Professional, →ISBN, page 90

Proper noun capitalized: Jack

Jack (countable and uncountable, plural Jacks)

  1. A unisex given name derived from a pet form of the name John. Occasionally a diminutive of other given names such as Jackson, Jacob, Jacqueline or Jonathan.
    • Since every Jack became a gentleman
    • there's many a gentle person made a Jack.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  2. A surname.
  3. (colloquial) Jack Daniel's, a brand of Tennessee whiskey.
    • Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack.2009, “Tik Tok”, performed by Ke$ha (Kesha Rose Sebert)
    • Got a boy back home in Michigan / And it tastes like Jack when I'm kissing him / So I told him that I never really liked his friends / Now he's gone and he's calling me a bitch again2017, Halsey, Ricky Reed, Justin Tranter, Rogét Chahayed, “Bad at Love”, in Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, performed by Halsey
  4. An unincorporated community in Coffee County, Alabama, United States.
  5. An unincorporated community in Dent County, Missouri, United States.
  6. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Monterey Jack, a type of cheese.

Noun (6) capitalized: Jack

Jack (plural Jacks)

  1. (informal) A placeholder or conventional name for any man, particularly a younger, lower-class man.
    • Well, if you ever plan to motor west / Jack, take my way, it's the highway that's the best / Get your kicks on Route 661946 April 22, Bobby Troup, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”, in New Juke Box Hits, performed by Chuck Berry, published March 1961, side 2, track 2
  2. (abbreviation, archaic, ellipsis, informal) Ellipsis of Jack Tar, a sailor.
    • When he went home on leave he rioted on a large scale—pompously. Jack ashore—with a difference—in externals only.1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 1
  3. (abbreviation, archaic, ellipsis, informal) Ellipsis of Jack Rum, a soldier.
  4. A jacqueminot rose.

jack meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

jack in Hindi

device for raising and supporting a heavy object
जैक jaik

jack in Tamil

ஜாக், ஜேக்

jack in Marathi

जॅक, जॅककडे

jack in Urdu

جیک, ٹو جیک
More languagesFewer languages
jack in Bengali
জ্যাক, জ্যাকের কাছে, জ্যাককে
jack in Telugu
జాక్, జ్యాక్, జాక్కు
jack in Malayalam
ജാക്ക്, ജാക്, ജാക്കിലേക്ക്
jack in Kannada
ಜ್ಯಾಕ್, ಜಾಕ್
jack in Punjabi
ਜੈਕ, ਜੈੱਕ, ਜੈਕ ਤੱਕ
jack in Gujarati
જેક, જૅક, જેક્
jack in Odia
ଜ୍ଯ଼ାକ୍, ଜ୍ଯାକ୍, ଜ୍ଯ଼ାକ୍ଙ୍କୁ
jack in Nepali
ज्याक, जैक
jack in Tagalog
gato
jack in Arabic
مِشْوَال mišwāl, رَافِعَة rāfiʕa, حِمَار ḥimār
jack in Malay
bicu, jek
jack in Indonesian
dongkrak
jack in Persian
جک jak
jack in Thai
แม่แรงตะเข้
jack in Vietnamese
cái kích
Dhivehi
ހަނދި އާއިލާ haⁿdi āilā
Kashmiri
خَر khar

Examples of jack in a sentence

  • Their horsemen are with jacks for most part clad, / Their horses are both swift of course and strong, / They run on horseback with a slender gad, / And like a speare, but that it is more long.1591, John Harington, translating Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, x. 73 (quoted in e.g. 1822, Robert Nares, A Glossary, page 186)
  • threescore men in jacks or light coats of mail1766, Walter Harris, The history and antiquities of the city of Dublin:
  • In the virginal, an upright piece of wood fixed to the key-lever and fitted with a quill which plucked the string as the jack rose when the key was pressed down.1923, Charles Talbut Onions, “Notes”, in Edward Bliss Reed, editor, Shakespeare's Sonnets, Yale University Press, Note 128.5:
  • In other words, jack, Mira thought, in a spike of furious resentment against herself.2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 72:

All 40 example sentences with jack

Synonyms of jack

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of jack

Forms of jack

Noun
pluraljacks
alternative formjak
pluralJacks
Verb
third-person singular presentjacks
present participlejacking
past participlejacked
pastjacked
Adjective
comparativemore jack
superlativemost jack
Proper noun
pluralJacks

Past tense of jack: jacked

Plural of jack: jacks

Origin of jack

Inherited from Middle English jakke, from Anglo-Norman jacke, Middle French jaque, jacque, from jacques (“peasant”), from the proper name Jacques. Compare jacquerie.

Transferred use of the personal name Jack. (cricket: eleventh batsman): An allusion to the jack in playing cards, which follows the 10.

From Portuguese jaca (“jackfruit”), from Malayalam ചക്ക (cakka).

Words formed from jack

Phrases with jack

154 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with jack

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about jack

What does jack mean?
Jack means a coarse medieval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
What is jack in Hindi?
Jack in Hindi is जैक (jaik). See Jack meaning in Hindi.
How do you use jack in a sentence?
Their horsemen are with jacks for most part clad, / Their horses are both swift of course and strong, / They run on horseback with a slender gad, / And like a speare, but that it is more long.
What part of speech is jack?
Jack can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce jack?
Jack is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒæk/.
What is the plural of jack?
The plural of jack is jacks.

Words near jack in the dictionary

  1. jacinths
  2. jacitara
  3. jacitara palm
  4. jacitara palms
  5. jacitaras
  6. jack
  7. jack all
  8. Jack and Dannies
  9. Jack and Danny
  10. Jack and Jill
  11. Jack and Jill bathroom

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: jack (page history and authors); Jack (page history and authors); jack (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); jack (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-jack.wav, en-us-jack.ogg, en-au-jack.ogg.

Cite this entry: “jack.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jack. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.