DictionaryAI

jack

JAK/d͡ʒæk/

Pluraljacks

Verbjacks, jacking, jacked

53 meanings of jack

Practice

  1. 1
    socketnouncountable
    A socket into which a plug fits to connect a device to a circuit, network, or the like.

    The modem connects to the phone jack beside the desk.

    Newer phones dropped the headphone jack, so she bought wireless earbuds.

    UsageWith a noun in front: phone jack, headphone jack. The end of the cord is the plug.

    Similarsocket

    Oppositeplug

    Note

    Some jacks also hold switch contacts, which is how plugging in headphones can silence a built-in speaker.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Switch contacts inside a headphone jack can disconnect the speaker when headphones are plugged in. mouser.com
  2. 2
    lifting toolnouncountable
    A mechanical device for lifting a heavy object and holding it up for a time, now especially one used to raise one side of a car to change a tire.

    He set the jack under the frame and cranked until the wheel cleared the ground.

    Movers used hydraulic jacks to raise the old house off its foundation.

    UsageOften a car jack; the verb is jack up the car.

  3. 3
    playing cardnouncountable
    The lowest of the court cards in a standard deck, ranking between the ten and the queen and showing a page or young servant.

    She laid down a pair of jacks and took the pot.

    The jack of diamonds was the only card he needed to finish the run.

    UsageNamed by suit: the jack of diamonds. Knave is the older name.

    Similarknave

    Note

    Players first used it as a casual name for the card more formally called the knave, and jack has since become the ordinary word, with knave surviving beside it. Because the card comes straight after the ten, cricket borrowed the name for the eleventh batsman, the last man in.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Jack began as an informal name for the card called the knave. en.wikipedia.org
    • The cricket term for the eleventh batsman alludes to the jack following ten in playing cards. en.wiktionary.org
    • Jack denotes the eleventh and last batsman in the batting order. en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4
    increaseverbcolloquialtransitive
    To raise or increase something, such as a price, a level, or a number.

    Every spring, the landlord threatens to jack the rent up by another hundred dollars a month.

    Right before the holiday rush, the airline jacked up its fares by almost forty percent.

    UsageMostly with up: jack up the rent, jack prices up.

    Similarraise, increase, hike, boost

    Oppositelower, cut, reduce

    Note

    The lifting verb turns figurative, and what goes up is a number: a rent, a price, a score, a set of statistics. It can hint that the rise is forced rather than earned, as when someone jacks their stats by writing off failures as invalid results.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The increase sense extends the physical lifting sense figuratively. en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    lift a carverbtransitive
    To raise something, such as a vehicle, using a jack.

    You'll need to jack the trailer before you can swap the wheel.

    The crew jacked the old cabin up onto steel beams.

    UsageWith or without up: jack the car or jack up the car.

    Similarraise, lift

    Oppositelower

    Note

    Besides up, other particles can show where the load goes, as when a truck driver in Bob Foster's Birdum or Bust! (2000), with no crane to hand, "jacked everything on and off."

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Bob Foster wrote Birdum or Bust!. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation describes a truck driver's loading and unloading with jacks because cranes were unavailable. en.wiktionary.org
  6. 6
    nothingnounslangeuphemisticuncountable
    A softened slang word for nothing at all, used in place of jack shit.

    Three hours of meetings, and we still haven't decided jack.

    He talks big about cars, but he doesn't know jack about engines.

    UsageMostly after a negative: don't know jack, haven't done jack. Too blunt for formal use.

    Similarsquat, zilch, zip, diddly

    Note

    Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood (2023) lets it stand alone as a verdict: "In other words, jack."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Eleanor Catton wrote Birnam Wood, first published in 2023. teherengawakapress.co.nz
    • The novel uses 'In other words, jack' as a verdict without an accompanying negative; these are Mira's thoughts. en.wiktionary.org
  7. 7
    stealverbcolloquialtransitive
    To steal something, usually a car, or to rob someone.

    Somebody jacked his bike while he was inside the store.

    Two guys tried to jack him for his phone outside the station.

    UsageOften used in the passive (get jacked) or with for before the thing taken (jack someone for their phone).

    Similarsteal, rob, swipe, pinch

    Note

    It lives comfortably in rap lyrics: Queen Latifah's "Just Another Day" (1993) watches a kid in an M3 fall victim to it, and Skepta's "That's Not Me" (2014) warns anyone against trying it on him.

  8. 8
    self pleasureverbvulgarcolloquialintransitive
    To masturbate; the same as jack off.

    In the locker room, the guys swapped crude jokes about how often they used to jack off back in high school.

    In the movie's most cringeworthy scene, his mom opens the door just as he starts jacking it under the covers.

  9. 9
    ship flagnouncountable
    A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, used as a signal or to identify the vessel.

    Sailors hoisted the jack at the bow as the ship dropped anchor.

    From the pier we could see the jack snapping in the wind above the bow.

    Note

    A flag with a fixed place on board: it flies from the jackstaff, a short pole at the bow, while the larger ensign flies at the stern. In many navies the jack goes up only while the ship is moored or at anchor and comes down once she gets under way, so it marks a ship at rest.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • A jack flies from a jackstaff, a short pole at the bow. en.wikipedia.org
    • The ensign flies at the stern when the vessel is moored or anchored. canada.ca
    • The ensign is generally larger than the jack. en.wikipedia.org
    • In many navies, the jack normally flies while moored or anchored and is lowered when getting under way. canada.ca
  10. 10
    any man (name)nouncountable
    A man or fellow, especially an ordinary or typical one; used as a name for any man.

    Every Jack and Jill in the county turned out for the fair.

    When a stranger cut in front of him at the gas pump, my uncle rolled down his window and shouted, 'Hey, Jack, wait your turn!'

    UsagePaired with Jill in every Jack and Jill; Hey, Jack to a stranger can sound rude.

    Note

    The personal name Jack stands in for any man here, which is why it keeps its capital. Its partner is Jill, the typical woman: the New-England Courant of 1723 describes nights out where "every Jack has his Jill and every Jill has her Jack." The same name lies behind most of the word's other meanings, from the sailor and the policeman to the playing card and the car jack.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Jack represents a hypothetical or typical man and is chiefly capitalized in this sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • Jill represents a typical woman and is conventionally paired with Jack. en.wiktionary.org
    • The New-England Courant quotation is dated 1723 and describes nighttime meetings using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
    • Most other senses, including sailor, policeman, playing card and lifting device, derive from the personal name Jack. en.wiktionary.org
  11. 11
    Asian fruitnouncountable or uncountable
    The edible fruit of an Asian tree, Artocarpus heterophyllus, or the tree that bears it.

    The market stall sold slices of ripe jack by the pound.

    The temple doors were carved from old jack wood.

    UsageNow more often called jackfruit.

    Similarjackfruit

    Note

    Despite the spelling, this is a separate word from the man's name: it came into English from Portuguese jaca, which took it from cakka, the fruit's name in Malayalam. Jackfruit is the same word with fruit added, and jack wood is the tree's timber, burned for a sacrificial fire in Castes and Tribes of Southern India (1909).

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The fruit word has a separate origin from the personal name and entered English through Portuguese jaca, from Malayalam cakka. en.wikipedia.org
    • Jackfruit adds fruit to the borrowed fruit name. en.wikipedia.org
    • Castes and Tribes of Southern India describes jack-tree wood being used to kindle a sacrificial fire. gutenberg.org
    • The cited book was first published in 1909. gutenberg.org
  12. 12
    sharp pullverbcolloquialtransitive or intransitive
    To jerk or move with jerks; also, to move something or remove it.

    Every time you jack a shell into the chamber, the empty one flies out.

    Before stepping into the dark barn, the deputy jacked a cartridge into his rifle and switched on his flashlight.

    Similarjerk

  13. 13
    homemade alcoholnounCanadaUSuncountable
    Strong alcoholic liquor, especially one that is homemade or made illegally.

    During Prohibition, a quart of jack could be bought from a man behind the feed store.

    The prisoners fermented a batch of raisin jack from smuggled fruit and sugar.

    UsageOften named for what went into it: raisin jack.

    Similarmoonshine, hooch

    Note

    A word in front can say what went into it: Hart Crane, in a letter of 1920, describes sharing "a quart of raisin jack" and spending the next day very quietly, "watered and Bromo-Seltzered."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Hart Crane described the incident in a letter written in 1920. gutenberg.org
    • Crane described sharing a quart of raisin jack; the quoted wording is exact. gutenberg.org
    • Crane described spending the following day quietly, using the quoted words. gutenberg.org
  14. 14
    sea fishnouncountable
    Any of the various sea fish that belong to the family Carangidae.

    A school of jacks flashed silver as it tore through the baitfish.

    He landed a big jack on light tackle just outside the reef.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of jack apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–10, 12–17, 20–27

The man's name Jack was put to wider use. In cricket, calling the eleventh batsman this refers to the card jack, which comes after the 10.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Meaning 11

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

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  • English jack, meaning jackfruit, comes from Portuguese jaca, meaning “jackfruit”. en.wiktionary.org
  • Portuguese jaca comes from Malayalam ചക്ക, transliterated cakka. en.wiktionary.org