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  jacinth jackal  
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   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 
jack
 
PRONUNCIATION:  jk
NOUN:1. often Jack Informal A man; a fellow. 2a. One who does odd or heavy jobs; a laborer. b. One who works in a specified manual trade. Often used in combination: a lumberjack; a steeplejack. c. Jack A sailor; a tar. 3. abbr. J Games A playing card showing the figure of a servant or soldier and ranking below a queen. Also called knave. 4. Games a. jacks (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game played with a set of small six-pointed metal pieces and a small ball, the object being to pick up the pieces in various combinations. b. One of the metal pieces so used. 5. Sports A pin used in some games of bowling. 6a. A usually portable device for raising heavy objects by means of force applied with a lever, screw, or hydraulic press. b. A wooden wedge for cleaving rock. 7. A device used for turning a spit. 8. Nautical a. A support or brace, especially the iron crosstree on a topgallant masthead. b. A small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate nationality. 9. The male of certain animals, especially the ass. 10. Any of several food and game fishes of the family Carangidae, found in tropical and temperate seas. 11. A jackrabbit. 12. A socket that accepts a plug at one end and attaches to electric circuitry at the other. 13. Slang Money. 14. Applejack. 15. Slang A small or worthless amount: You don't know jack about that.
VERB:Inflected forms: jacked, jack·ing, jacks
TRANSITIVE VERB:1. To hunt or fish for with a jacklight: hunters illegally jacking deer. 2a. To move or hoist by or as if by using a jack: jacked the rear of the car to replace the tire. b. To raise (something) to a higher level, as in cost: “Foreign producers jacked up the price on some steels by over 100%” (Forbes). 3. Baseball To hit (a pitched ball) hard, especially for a home run.
INTRANSITIVE VERB: To hunt or fish for quarry by using a jacklight.
PHRASAL VERB:jack off Vulgar Slang To masturbate.
ETYMOLOGY:From the name Jack, from Middle English Jakke, possibly from Old French Jacques, from Late Latin Iacbus; see Jacob. N., sense 15, short for jack shit.
OTHER FORMS:jackerNOUN
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
  jacinth jackal  
 
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