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jerky

Meat, especially beef, that has been cut in strips and dried; meat that has been jerked; see first jerk, v.; as, beef jerky

Jeronymite

One belonging of the medi/val religious orders called Hermits of St. Jerome.

Jerquer

A customhouse officer who searches ships for unentered goods.

Jerquing

The searching of a ship for unentered goods.

Jerry

Flimsy; jerry-built.

Jerry-builder

A professional builder who erects cheap dwellings of poor materials and unsubstantial and slovenly construction.

Jerry-built

Built hastily and of bad materials; as, jerry-built houses.

Jerusalem

The chief city of Palestine, intimately associated with the glory of the Jewish nation, and the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Jervine

A poisonous alkaloid resembling veratrine, and found with it in white hellebore (Veratrum album); -- called also jervina.

Jess

A short strap of leather or silk secured round the leg of a hawk, to which the leash or line, wrapped round the falconer's hand, was attached when used. See Illust. of Falcon.

Jessant

Springing up or emerging; -- said of a plant or animal.

Jesse

Any representation or suggestion of the genealogy of Christ, in decorative art A genealogical tree represented in stained glass. A candlestick with many branches, each of which bears the name of some one of the descendants of Jesse; -- called also tree of Jesse.

Jessed

Having jesses on, as a hawk.

Jester

A buffoon; a merry-andrew; a court fool.

Jestful

Given to jesting; full of jokes.

Jesting

The act or practice of making jests; joking; pleasantry.

Jesuit

One of a religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola, and approved in 1540, under the title of The Society of Jesus.

Jesuited

Conforming to the principles of the Jesuits.

Jesuitess

One of an order of nuns established on the principles of the Jesuits, but suppressed by Pope Urban in 1633.

Jesuitocracy

Government by Jesuits; also, the whole body of Jesuits in a country.

Jesus

The Savior; the name of the Son of God as announced by the angel to his parents; the personal name of Our Lord, in distinction from Christ, his official appellation.

Jet

To spout; to emit in a stream or jet.

jet set

an international group of wealthy individuals who travel frequently to international resorts. -- the group is not organized, but membership is defined solely by frequent travel for pleasure.

Jet-black

Black as jet; deep black. See first jet.

jet-setting

frequent international travel for pleasure, as contrasted with business.

Jeterus

A yellowness of the parts of plants which are normally green; yellows.

Jetson Jetsam

Goods which sink when cast into the sea, and remain under water; -- distinguished from flotsam, goods which float, and ligan (or lagan), goods which are sunk attached to a buoy.

Jetter

One who struts; one who bears himself jauntily; a fop.

Jettiness

The state of being jetty; blackness.

jetting

being propelled violently in a usually narrow stream; -- of liquids.

Jetton

A metal counter used in playing cards.

Jetty

To jut out; to project.

Jew

To bargain down (a person) in price; as, I jewed him down to ten dollars.

Jew-baiter

someone who hates and would persecute Jews; an anti-Semite.

Jew's-ears Jew's-ear

A widely distributed species of edible fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae, formerly Hirneola Auricula-Jud/, or Hirneola Auricula), bearing some resemblance to the human ear and growing on decaying wood.

Jew's-harp

An instrument of music, which, when placed between the teeth, gives, by means of a bent metal tongue struck by the finger, a sound which is modulated by the breath; -- called also Jew's-trump.

Jewbush

A euphorbiaceous shrub of the genus Pedilanthus (Pedilanthus tithymaloides), found in the West Indies, and possessing powerful emetic and drastic qualities.

Jewel

To dress, adorn, deck, or supply with jewels, as a dress, a sword hilt, or a watch; to bespangle, as with jewels; to bejewel.

Jeweler

One who makes, or deals in, jewels, precious stones, and similar ornaments.

jewels-of-opar

An erect plant (Talinum paniculatum) with tuberous roots and terminal panicles of red to yellow flowers, grwing from Southwestern North America to Central America; it has been widely introduced elsewhere.

Jewess

A female Jew; a Hebrew woman; a female adherent of Judaism.

Jewfish

A very large serranoid fish (Promicrops itaiara) of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. It often reaches the weight of five hundred pounds. Its color is olivaceous or yellowish, with numerous brown spots. Called also guasa, and warsaw.

Jewish

Of or pertaining to the Jews or Hebrews; characteristic of or resembling the Jews or their customs; Israelitish.

Jewry

Judea; also, a district inhabited by Jews; a Jews' quarter.

Jezebel

A bold, vicious woman; a termagant.

Jharal

A wild goat (Capra Jemlaica) which inhabits the loftiest mountains of India. It has long, coarse hair, forming a thick mane on its head and neck.

Jib

To move restively backward or sidewise, -- said of a horse; to balk.

Jibb Jib

To shift, or swing round, as a sail, boom, yard, etc., as in tacking.

Jibe

To change a ship's course so as to cause a shifting of the boom. See Jibe, v. t., and Gybe.

Jiffy

A moment; an instant; as, I will be ready in a jiffy.

Jig

To dance a jig; to skip about.

jigaboo

A negro, especially an African-American; -- an offensive term usually intended as an ethnic slur.

Jigger

To move, send, or drive with a jerk; to jerk; also, to drive or send over with a jerk, as a golf ball.

jiggery-pokery

A verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of a person in some way.

Jigging

The act or using a jig; the act of separating ore with a jigger, or wire-bottomed sieve, which is moved up and down in water.

Jiggish

Resembling, or suitable for, a jig, or lively movement.

Jiggle

To wriggle or frisk about; to move awkwardly; to shake up and down.

Jigjog

Having a jolting motion.

Jihad Jehad

A religious war against infidels or Muslim heretics; also, any bitter war or crusade for a principle or belief.

Jill

A young woman; a sweetheart. See Gill.

Jill-flirt

A light, giddy, or wanton girl or woman. See Gill-flirt.

Jilt

To play the jilt; to practice deception in love; to discard lovers capriciously.

Jim Crow

A negro; -- said to be so called from a popular negro dance song, the refrain of which is /Wheel about and turn about and jump Jim Crow,/ produced in 1835 by Thomas D. Rice (1808-1860), a famous negro minstrel; -- considered disparaging and offensive.

Jim-crow

A machine for bending or straightening rails.

jimdandy

someone excellent of their kind; as, he's a jimdandy of a soldier.

jimmies

Small cylindrical bits of sweet chocolate used as a granular topping on e.g. ice cream.

Jimmy

A short crowbar used by burglars in breaking open doors.

jimmy

To pry open (a door, window, etc.) with a jimmy or similar device; often used with open; as, the burglar jimmied open the back door and stole the TV set.

Jimp

Neat; handsome; elegant. See Gimp.

Jingal

A small portable piece of ordnance, mounted on a swivel.

Jingle

A rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound, as of little bells or pieces of metal.

Jingler

One who, or that which, jingles.

Jingling

The act or process of producing a jingle; also, the sound itself; a chink.

jingoism

The policy of the Jingoes, so called. See Jingo, 2.

jingoist

One who is jingoistic; a bellicose patriot; an extreme bellicose nationalist; an aggressive chauvinist.

jingoistic

fanatically and bellicosely patriotic; aggressively chauvinistic; belligerent in international relations.

Jink

To move quickly, esp. with a sudden turn; hence, to dodge; to escape by a quick turn; -- obs. or dial., except as a hunting term in pig-sticking.

jinks

noisy and mischievous merrymaking.

Jinni Jinnee

A genius or demon; one of the fabled genii, good and evil spirits, supposed to be the children of fire, and to have the power of assuming various forms.

Jinrikisha

A small, two-wheeled, hooded vehicle drawn by one or more men.

jinx

To bring bad luck to; to cause to malfunction or go wrong; as, some superstitious people are reluctant to predict success for fear it will jinx them.

Jippo

A waistcoat or kind of stays for women.

jiqui

A Cuban timber tree (Malpighia obovata) with hard wood very resistant to moisture.

jird

Any of several North African gerbils.

jitney

a small bus or similar vehicle carrying passengers on a fixed route, used for public transport.

jitters

an uneasy state; nervousness; as, the prospect of being drafted gave him a bad case of the jitters.

jittery

being in a tense state; easily upset or frightened; -- of a person.

jiujitsu

a method of self-defense without weapons that was developed in China and Japan; holds and blows are supplemented by clever use of the attacker's own weight and strength.

Jiujitsu Jiujutsu Jujitsu Jujutsu

The Japanese art of self-defense without weapons, now widely used as a system of physical training. It depends for its efficiency largely upon the principle of making clever use of an opponent's strength, weight, and movements to disable or injure him, and by applying pressure so that his opposing movement will throw him out of balance, dislocate or break a joint, etc. It opposes knowledge and skill to brute strength, and demands an extensive practical knowledge of human anatomy.

jive

a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz.

Jnr.

Abbreviation for Junior, used after a name by a son who has the same first and last name as his father; -- less commonly used than Jr.

Jo

A sweetheart; a darling.

Job

The hero of the book of that name in the Old Testament; the prototypical patient man.

Jobation

A scolding; a hand, tedious reproof.

Jobber

One who works by the job.

Jobbery

The act or practice of jobbing.

Jobbing

Doing chance work or odd jobs; as, a jobbing carpenter.

jock

a person trained to compete in sports; an athlete.

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