# joint

Pronunciation: say "JOYNT" /d͡ʒɔɪnt/

## Adjective

1. Shared by, involving, or done together by two or more people or organizations.
   - Simple: Shared or done together by two or more people or groups.
   - _The companies issued a joint statement after the merger._
   - _Parents and teachers took joint responsibility for the new program._

## Noun

2. A place in an animal's body where two bones or exoskeleton segments meet, usually allowing that part to bend or straighten.
   - Simple: A place in the body where two bones meet, often letting that part bend or straighten.
   - _The shoulder joint allows the arm to rotate in almost any direction._
   - _Arthritis can cause the joints to swell and stiffen._
3. A place where two parts of a structure or object are joined, either fixed together or able to move, or the way they are fitted together.
   - Simple: A place where two parts are joined, either firmly or so they can move, or the way they fit together.
   - _Engineers added a rotating joint so the crane arm could swivel._
   - _The robotic arm uses several joints to reach around obstacles._
4. A place of business, especially a restaurant or bar, and sometimes any spot where people gather. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A casual word for a place, especially a restaurant or bar, or anywhere people hang out.
   - _They opened a pizza joint near the college._
   - _The bar was the kind of joint where everyone knew your name._
5. A cigarette containing marijuana, usually hand-rolled. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A cigarette made with marijuana.
   - _She lit a joint as the music started._
   - _Someone left a half-smoked joint in the ashtray._
6. A large cut of meat cooked whole, often containing a bone or rolled up and tied.
   - Simple: A large piece of meat cooked whole, often with the bone left in.
   - _She basted the joint every twenty minutes until it was done._
   - _The butcher tied the joint with string before selling it._
7. Prison, jail, or a place where people are locked up. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A prison or jail.
   - _Half the guys he knew from the old neighborhood ended up in the joint._
   - _She wrote him letters the whole time he was in the joint._
8. An unspecified object or item; a thing referred to loosely or casually. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Any object or item, named loosely without saying exactly what it is.
   - _The director's latest joint, a crime drama set in Brooklyn, opens in theaters this Friday._
   - _He collects vintage sneakers, and the rarest joint in his collection is still in its original box._
14. A coarse slang word for the penis. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A rude slang word for a man's penis.
   - _He complained that the tight jeans were crushing his joint._
   - _The whole locker-room joke was about whose joint was biggest._

## Verb

9. To unite pieces by a joint, or to shape or prepare their edges so they fit together closely.
   - Simple: To fit pieces together neatly, or to shape them so they join well.
   - _She jointed the panels carefully so that no gaps showed._
   - _Skilled joiners joint each edge before assembling a cabinet._
10. To divide a carcass at its joints, cutting the meat into separate pieces.
   - Simple: To cut meat into pieces by separating it at the joints.
   - _The hunters jointed the deer at camp before packing the meat out._
   - _Skilled cooks joint a whole bird into legs, thighs, and breasts._
11. To provide an object with one or more joints, so that parts of it can move or bend.
   - Simple: To give something a part that lets it bend or move.
   - _The craftsman jointed the puppet so each limb swung freely._
   - _Designers joint the bridge sections to let them flex in the wind._
16. To fit together as if by joints, coming together and merging the way jointed parts do.
   - Simple: To fit or come together closely, as separate parts that lock into place.

## Verb

12. To bring separate things or groups together into a single connected or combined whole. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To bring separate things together so they become one.

## Noun

13. A cheap, disreputable place where people gather, such as a drifters' hangout or an opium den. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: A cheap place with a bad reputation where people gather, such as a drifters' hangout or an opium den.
   - _In the 1890s, the police raided an opium joint hidden in a cellar near the docks._
   - _He warned the boys to steer clear of that joint behind the freight depot._
15. A hypodermic syringe used to inject an illicit drug. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A syringe used to inject illegal drugs into the body.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A fracture in rock along which the strata have not been displaced or offset.
- (noun) The part or space lying between two adjacent joints, knots, nodes, or articulations.

## Origin

The noun comes from Middle English joynt, from Old French joint ("joint of the body"), while the adjective comes from Old French jointiz; both Old French words derive from Latin iunctus, the past participle of iungo ("to join"). The sense of a "building or establishment" (often linked to shady activities) appeared in Anglo-Irish by 1821 and entered American slang by 1877, and the "marijuana cigarette" sense appeared in the 1930s.

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