# jet

Pronunciation: say "JET" /ˈd͡ʒɛt/

## Noun

1. An aircraft propelled by jet engines rather than by propellers.
   - Simple: A fast airplane that flies using powerful engines instead of propellers.
   - _The airline retired its oldest jets last spring._
   - _A private jet carried the delegation to the summit._
2. A narrow, focused stream or spurt of liquid or gas forced out of a pressurized container, engine, or nozzle.
   - Simple: A narrow, fast stream of liquid or gas that shoots out under pressure.
   - _A jet of flame burst from the burner when she turned the gas up._
   - _The fountain sent jets of water high into the air._
4. An engine that propels a vehicle forward by means of a stream of fluid, either gas or liquid.
   - Simple: An engine that moves a vehicle by pushing out a stream of gas or liquid.
   - _Mechanics pulled the left jet off the wing for a full inspection._
   - _Instead of propellers, the new ferry is driven by a pair of water jets that let it run in shallow channels._
7. A nozzle or small opening through which liquid or gas is directed in a narrow stream, including one that meters fuel in a carburetor.
   - Simple: A small opening or nozzle that directs liquid or gas in a narrow stream.
   - _The plumber cleaned the clogged jet on the boiler._
   - _Each burner has a small jet that controls the size of the flame._
11. A deep, glossy black, the color of the polished mineral jet.
   - Simple: A very deep, shiny black, the color of polished jet stone.
   - _The designer paired cream walls with accents of jet._
   - _Her gown was dyed a rich jet that caught the candlelight._
12. A hard, black variety of coal that takes a high polish and is sometimes used in jewelry.
   - Simple: A hard, black kind of coal that can be polished and used in jewelry.
   - _The necklace was strung with smooth beads of black jet._
   - _Whitby has long been famous for its jet, carved into rings and pendants._

## Adjective

3. Propelled by jet engines, which drive the craft forward by expelling a fast stream of gas, rather than by propellers.
   - Simple: Pushed forward by jet engines that shoot out hot gas, instead of by propellers.
   - _Military jet fighters can climb far faster than older propeller models._
   - _The airline retired its last propeller plane and switched entirely to jet airliners._
6. Having a deep, glossy, very dark black color.
   - Simple: Deep, glossy black, like the darkest possible color.
   - _She tucked a strand of jet hair behind her ear and kept reading._
   - _His jet hair was streaked with the first signs of gray._

## Verb

5. To travel by jet aircraft, or more loosely by any form of jet propulsion.
   - Simple: To travel somewhere quickly by jet airplane.
   - _Executives jet between continents for brief meetings._
   - _The band jetted off to Tokyo right after the concert._
8. To spurt or shoot out in a forceful stream, as from a nozzle or under pressure.
   - Simple: To shoot out fast in a thin stream.
   - _If you puncture an aerosol can, the contents can jet out with surprising force._
   - _Water jetted out the moment he loosened the cap._
9. To cover or spray something with liquid forced from a container.
   - Simple: To spray something with liquid from a container.
   - _The crew jet the tank walls to remove the residue._
   - _Before lining the old pipes, the contractor jetted them to blast out years of grease._
10. To leave a place, especially suddenly or in a hurry. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To leave a place, especially in a hurry.
   - _We should jet before it starts raining._
   - _He jetted out the door without saying goodbye._
13. To move rapidly from place to place, whether running, walking, or otherwise.
   - Simple: To move around quickly, by running or walking.
   - _Waiters jet between the tables during the dinner rush._
   - _He jetted around town running errands all afternoon._
14. To adjust the fuel-to-air ratio of a carburetor, or to fit and tune its fuel jet.
   - Simple: To set how much fuel mixes with the air in an engine's carburetor.
   - _Riders often jet their carburetors when they switch to a different fuel._
   - _He had to jet the carburetor again after the engine kept running too rich._

## Noun

15. The general drift, scope, or range of something, such as an argument. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The general direction or main point of what someone is saying.
16. The sprue of a piece of type, broken away once the cast metal has cooled. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The bit of extra metal on freshly cast printing type, snapped off after it cools.
   - _After the mold cooled, the founder broke the jet from every piece of type._
   - _Each fresh casting carried a jet of surplus metal that had to be removed by hand._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A narrow cone of hadrons and other particles formed when a quark or gluon turns into a shower of matter.
- (noun) An operation that takes a differentiable function and returns its Taylor polynomial (the truncated Taylor series) at each point of its domain.
- (verb) To strut; to walk with a proud or haughty bearing; to behave insolently.
- (verb) To jerk or jolt; to be shaken back and forth.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7–10, 13–16** — Latin iacere ("to throw") gave iactus ("a throw"), which became Vulgar Latin *iectus, Old French get or giet, and French jet ("spurt," literally "a throw"), the source of the English word. Spanish echar is a cognate.
**Meanings 6, 11–12** — The name comes from Gágas (Γάγας), a river and town in Lycia. From it came Ancient Greek Gagátēs (Γαγάτης) and Latin gagātēs, which reached Middle English as get or geet through Old French jayet in a northern form. Gagate is a doublet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/jet (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).