jack
Pluraljacks
Pluraljacks
- 1
- 2A tool for lifting something heavy and holding it up, like a car when you change a tire.
Dad keeps a jack in the trunk for flat tires.
The workers used a jack to lift the heavy machine.
UsageOften called a car jack. The verb is jack up a car.
- 3A playing card with a picture of a young man on it, worth more than a ten but less than a queen.
I had two jacks and a king in my hand.
She played the jack of hearts and won the round.
UsageSay the jack of hearts.
Similarknave
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- 8To touch your own sex organs for pleasure.
The comedian joked about getting caught jacking off as a teenager.
He admits he will sometimes jack off when he can't fall asleep.
- 9A small flag flown at the front of a ship, used as a signal or to show which ship it is.
A sailor raised the small jack at the front of the ship.
We could see the jack flapping at the bow as the boat came in.
Note
- 10Any ordinary man, or a name used for a man in general.
Every Jack and Jill in school came to the dance.
The cab driver didn't know my name, so he just called me Jack.
UsageSay every Jack and Jill for everyone.
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- 11A fruit that grows on a tree in Asia, or the tree itself.
The ripe jack was so sweet that we finished half of it in one sitting.
The jack tree in the yard gives fruit every summer.
UsageMost people say jackfruit.
Similarjackfruit
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- 12To move with a sudden pull, or to move or take something away.
The hunter jacked a shell into his shotgun as the ducks flew in.
You must jack the lever of this rifle before every shot.
Similarjerk
- 13
- 14Any of a family of fish that live in the sea.
We caught a jack off the end of the pier.
Jacks were chasing small fish near the boat.
Less common meanings
- 15A small piece with six points that you pick up when playing the game of jacks.
I picked up three jacks before the ball hit the ground again.
My little brother stepped on a jack and yelled.
UsageUse is for the game: Jacks is fun. Use are for the pieces: The jacks are small.
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- 16A jackrabbit, a wild animal like a big rabbit with long ears.
The coyote chased a jack through the sagebrush but never caught it.
Out on the prairie, we saw more jacks than cottontails.
Similarjackrabbit
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- 17A tool that holds your boot at the heel so you can pull your foot out.
My boots were so tight I needed a boot jack to remove them.
Put your heel in the boot jack and pull your foot out.
UsageMostly a boot jack.
Similarbootjack
- 18
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- 20The small ball, usually white, that players try to get their balls close to in bowls.
She rolled her ball very close to the jack.
The jack is much smaller than the other balls.
UsageAlso called the kitty.
Similarkitty
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- 24A male donkey, especially one that farmers keep for breeding.
The jack brayed loudly from the far side of the pasture.
Our neighbor raises jacks and sells them to other farms.
UsageThe female is a jenny.
Similarjackass
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- 25To make a drink like cider stronger by freezing it and taking out the ice.
Farmers used to jack their cider by leaving it outside in winter.
The jacked cider was much stronger than before.
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- 26
- 27A pike (a kind of fish), especially a young one.
He caught a small jack in the lake and let it go.
Young jacks hide among the river weeds, waiting for little fish.
- 28To dance by moving your upper body forward and back in a wave.
- 29In a harpsichord, one of the small wooden pieces that lift when you press a key and pluck the string.
- 30A thick jacket, often leather, worn as armor long ago.
- 31A person who works with their hands.
- 32A person who cuts down trees for wood.
- 33An Indian soldier in the British army long ago.
- 34A machine that turns meat over a fire for roasting.
- 35A tool used to shape glass by hand.
- 36A stand that holds wood while you saw it.
- 37A small part in a knitting machine that helps push loops onto needles.
- 38A wedge pushed into cracked rock to break it up after an explosion.
- 39A comb-like part that keeps threads apart and guides them as they are wound for weaving.
- 40A machine that twists fiber as part of making yarn.
- 41A jug for drinks, especially beer.
Dead VVine that ſtinks of the Borrachio, ſup / From a fovvl Jack, or greaſie Maple Cup?
1693, Aulus Persius Flaccus, John Dryden - 42One fourth of a pint of liquid.
To a pound of sugar put a jack of water.
1747, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy - 43A copy of a sovereign, an old British gold coin, sometimes passed off as real.
- 44A metal bar near the top of a ship's mast.
- 45A light used at night to catch animals while hunting.
- 46The last player to bat in cricket.
- 47A big, smooth, rounded stone in a stream.
- 48A large rockfish found off California, also called the bocaccio.
- 49A plant such as jack-in-the-pulpit, with a small flower spike inside a hood.
- 50The thick center spike of some plants' flowers.
- 51An Emex weed, such as three-corner jack, whose hard fruits have three sharp points.
- 52To get into a fight with someone.
- 53A tree like the mango tree, with fruit that is white inside.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From the name Jack. In cricket, the eleventh batsman is called this because the jack card comes after the 10.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- This use of jack derives from the personal name Jack. en.wiktionary.org
- The eleventh batsman's designation alludes to the jack card following ten. en.wikipedia.org
From the Portuguese word jaca, meaning “jackfruit”, which came from Malayalam.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- English jack, meaning jackfruit, comes from Portuguese jaca, meaning “jackfruit”. en.wiktionary.org
- Portuguese jaca came from Malayalam. en.wiktionary.org