catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Jack \Jack\ (j[a^]k), n. [F. Jacques James, L. Jacobus, Gr. ?,
     Heb. Ya 'aq[=o]b Jacob; prop., seizing by the heel; hence, a
     supplanter. Cf. Jacobite, Jockey.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A familiar nickname of, or substitute for, John.
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              You are John Rugby, and you are Jack Rugby. --Shak.
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     2. An impertinent or silly fellow; a simpleton; a boor; a
        clown; also, a servant; a rustic. ``Jack fool.''
        --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Since every Jack became a gentleman,
              There 's many a gentle person made a Jack. --Shak.
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     3. A popular colloquial name for a sailor; -- called also
        Jack tar, and Jack afloat.
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     4. A mechanical contrivance, an auxiliary machine, or a
        subordinate part of a machine, rendering convenient
        service, and often supplying the place of a boy or
        attendant who was commonly called Jack; as:
        (a) A device to pull off boots.
        (b) A sawhorse or sawbuck.
        (c) A machine or contrivance for turning a spit; a smoke
            jack, or kitchen jack.
        (b) (Mining) A wooden wedge for separating rocks rent by
            blasting.
        (e) (Knitting Machine) A lever for depressing the sinkers
            which push the loops down on the needles.
        (f) (Warping Machine) A grating to separate and guide the
            threads; a heck box.
        (g) (Spinning) A machine for twisting the sliver as it
            leaves the carding machine.
        (h) A compact, portable machine for planing metal.
        (i) A machine for slicking or pebbling leather.
        (k) A system of gearing driven by a horse power, for
            multiplying speed.
        (l) A hood or other device placed over a chimney or vent
            pipe, to prevent a back draught.
        (m) In the harpsichord, an intermediate piece
            communicating the action of the key to the quill; --
            called also hopper.
        (n) In hunting, the pan or frame holding the fuel of the
            torch used to attract game at night; also, the light
            itself. --C. Hallock.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A portable machine variously constructed, for exerting
        great pressure, or lifting or moving a heavy body such as
        an automobile through a small distance. It consists of a
        lever, screw, rack and pinion, hydraulic press, or any
        simple combination of mechanical powers, working in a
        compact pedestal or support and operated by a lever,
        crank, capstan bar, etc. The name is often given to a
        jackscrew, which is a kind of jack.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. The small bowl used as a mark in the game of bowls.
        --Shak.
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              Like an uninstructed bowler who thinks to attain the
              jack by delivering his bowl straight forward upon
              it.                                   --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
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     7. The male of certain animals, as of the ass.
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     8. (Zo["o]l.)
        (a) A young pike; a pickerel.
        (b) The jurel.
        (c) A large, California rock fish ({Sebastodes
            paucispinus); -- called also boccaccio, and
            m['e]rou.
        (d) The wall-eyed pike.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     9. A drinking measure holding half a pint; also, one holding
        a quarter of a pint. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
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     10. (Naut.)
         (a) A flag, containing only the union, without the fly,
             usually hoisted on a jack staff at the bowsprit cap;
             -- called also union jack. The American jack is a
             small blue flag, with a star for each State.
         (b) A bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead,
             to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal
             shrouds; -- called also jack crosstree. --R. H.
             Dana, Jr.
             [1913 Webster]
  
     11. The knave of a suit of playing cards.
  
     12. (pl.) A game played with small (metallic, with
         tetrahedrally oriented spikes) objects (the jacks(1950+),
         formerly jackstones) that are tossed, caught, picked up,
         and arranged on a horizontal surface in various patterns;
         in the modern American game, the movements are
         accompanied by tossing or bouncing a rubber ball on the
         horizontal surface supporting the jacks. same as
         jackstones.
         [PJC]
  
     13. Money. [slang]
         [PJC]
  
     14. Apple jack.
         [PJC]
  
     15. Brandy.
         [PJC]
  
     Note: Jack is used adjectively in various senses. It
           sometimes designates something cut short or diminished
           in size; as, a jack timber; a jack rafter; a jack arch,
           etc.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Jack arch, an arch of the thickness of one brick.
  
     Jack back (Brewing & Malt Vinegar Manuf.), a cistern which
        receives the wort. See under 1st Back.
  
     Jack block (Naut.), a block fixed in the topgallant or
        royal rigging, used for raising and lowering light masts
        and spars.
  
     Jack boots, boots reaching above the knee; -- worn in the
        17 century by soldiers; afterwards by fishermen, etc.
  
     Jack crosstree. (Naut.) See 10, b, above.
  
     Jack curlew (Zo["o]l.), the whimbrel.
  
     Jack frame. (Cotton Spinning) See 4
         (g), above.
  
     Jack Frost, frost or cold weather personified as a
        mischievous person.
  
     Jack hare, a male hare. --Cowper.
  
     Jack lamp, a lamp for still hunting and camp use. See def.
        4
         (n.), above.
  
     Jack plane, a joiner's plane used for coarse work.
  
     Jack post, one of the posts which support the crank shaft
        of a deep-well-boring apparatus.
  
     Jack pot (Poker Playing), the name given to the stakes,
        contributions to which are made by each player
        successively, till such a hand is turned as shall take the
        ``pot,'' which is the sum total of all the bets. See also
        jackpot.
  
     Jack rabbit (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of large
        American hares, having very large ears and long legs. The
        California species ({Lepus Californicus), and that of
        Texas and New Mexico ({Lepus callotis), have the tail
        black above, and the ears black at the tip. They do not
        become white in winter. The more northern prairie hare
        ({Lepus campestris) has the upper side of the tail white,
        and in winter its fur becomes nearly white.
  
     Jack rafter (Arch.), in England, one of the shorter rafters
        used in constructing a hip or valley roof; in the United
        States, any secondary roof timber, as the common rafters
        resting on purlins in a trussed roof; also, one of the
        pieces simulating extended rafters, used under the eaves
        in some styles of building.
  
     Jack salmon (Zo["o]l.), the wall-eyed pike, or glasseye.
  
     Jack sauce, an impudent fellow. [Colloq. & Obs.]
  
     Jack shaft (Mach.), the first intermediate shaft, in a
        factory or mill, which receives power, through belts or
        gearing, from a prime mover, and transmits it, by the same
        means, to other intermediate shafts or to a line shaft.
  
     Jack sinker (Knitting Mach.), a thin iron plate operated by
        the jack to depress the loop of thread between two
        needles.
  
     Jack snipe. (Zo["o]l.) See in the Vocabulary.
  
     Jack staff (Naut.), a staff fixed on the bowsprit cap, upon
        which the jack is hoisted.
  
     Jack timber (Arch.), any timber, as a rafter, rib, or
        studding, which, being intercepted, is shorter than the
        others.
  
     Jack towel, a towel hung on a roller for common use.
  
     Jack truss (Arch.), in a hip roof, a minor truss used where
        the roof has not its full section.
  
     Jack tree. (Bot.) See 1st Jack, n.
  
     Jack yard (Naut.), a short spar to extend a topsail beyond
        the gaff.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Blue jack, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.
  
     Hydraulic jack, a jack used for lifting, pulling, or
        forcing, consisting of a compact portable hydrostatic
        press, with its pump and a reservoir containing a supply
        of liquid, as oil.
  
     Jack-at-a-pinch.
         (a) One called upon to take the place of another in an
             emergency.
         (b) An itinerant parson who conducts an occasional
             service for a fee.
  
     Jack-at-all-trades, one who can turn his hand to any kind
        of work.
  
     Jack-by-the-hedge (Bot.), a plant of the genus Erysimum
        ({Erysimum alliaria, or Alliaria officinalis), which
        grows under hedges. It bears a white flower and has a
        taste not unlike garlic. Called also, in England,
        sauce-alone. --Eng. Cyc.
  
     Jack-in-office, an insolent fellow in authority. --Wolcott.
  
     Jack-in-the-bush (Bot.), a tropical shrub with red fruit
        ({Cordia Cylindrostachya).
  
     Jack-in-the-green, a chimney sweep inclosed in a framework
        of boughs, carried in Mayday processions.
  
     Jack-of-the-buttery+(Bot.),+the+stonecrop+({Sedum+acre" rel="nofollow">Jack-of-the-buttery (Bot.), the stonecrop ({Sedum acre).
        
  
     Jack-of-the-clock, a figure, usually of a man, on old
        clocks, which struck the time on the bell.
  
     Jack-on-both-sides, one who is or tries to be neutral.
  
     Jack-out-of-office, one who has been in office and is
        turned out. --Shak.
  
     Jack the Giant Killer, the hero of a well-known nursery
        story.
  
     Yellow Jack (Naut.), the yellow fever; also, the quarantine
        flag. See Yellow flag, under Flag.
        [1913 Webster]

  
  
     Jack rabbit (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of large
        American hares, having very large ears and long legs. The
        California species ({Lepus Californicus), and that of
        Texas and New Mexico ({L. callotis), have the tail black
        above, and the ears black at the tip. They do not become
        white in winter. The more northern prairie hare ({L.
        campestris) has the upper side of the tail white, and in
        winter its fur becomes nearly white.
  
     Jack rafter (Arch.), in England, one of the shorter rafters
        used in constructing a hip or valley roof; in the United
        States, any secondary roof timber, as the common rafters
        resting on purlins in a trussed roof; also, one of the
        pieces simulating extended rafters, used under the eaves
        in some styles of building.
  
     Jack salmon (Zo["o]l.), the wall-eyed pike, or glasseye.
  
     Jack sauce, an impudent fellow. [Colloq. & Obs.]
  
     Jack shaft (Mach.), the first intermediate shaft, in a
        factory or mill, which receives power, through belts or
        gearing, from a prime mover, and transmits it, by the same
        means, to other intermediate shafts or to a line shaft.
  
     Jack sinker (Knitting Mach.), a thin iron plate operated by
        the jack to depress the loop of thread between two
        needles.
  
     Jack snipe. (Zo["o]l.) See in the Vocabulary.
  
     Jack staff (Naut.), a staff fixed on the bowsprit cap, upon
        which the jack is hoisted.
  
     Jack timber (Arch.), any timber, as a rafter, rib, or
        studding, which, being intercepted, is shorter than the
        others.
  
     Jack towel, a towel hung on a roller for common use.
  
     Jack truss (Arch.), in a hip roof, a minor truss used where
        the roof has not its full section.
  
     Jack tree. (Bot.) See 1st Jack, n.
  
     Jack yard (Naut.), a short spar to extend a topsail beyond
        the gaff.
  
     Blue jack, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.
  
     Hydraulic jack, a jack used for lifting, pulling, or
        forcing, consisting of a compact portable hydrostatic
        press, with its pump and a reservoir containing a supply
        of liquid, as oil.
  
     Jack-at-a-pinch.
         (a) One called upon to take the place of another in an
             emergency.
         (b) An itinerant parson who conducts an occasional
             service for a fee.
  
     Jack-at-all-trades, one who can turn his hand to any kind
        of work.
  
     Jack-by-the-hedge (Bot.), a plant of the genus Erysimum
        ({E. alliaria, or Alliaria officinalis), which grows
        under hedges. It bears a white flower and has a taste not
        unlike garlic. Called also, in England, sauce-alone.
        --Eng. Cyc.
  
     Jack-in-a-box.
         (a) (Bot.) A tropical tree ({Hernandia sonora), which
             bears a drupe that rattles when dry in the inflated
             calyx.
         (b) A child's toy, consisting of a box, out of which,
             when the lid is raised, a figure springs.
         (c) (Mech.) An epicyclic train of bevel gears for
             transmitting rotary motion to two parts in such a
             manner that their relative rotation may be variable;
             applied to driving the wheels of tricycles, road
             locomotives, and to cotton machinery, etc.; an
             equation box; a jack frame; -- called also
             compensating gearing.
         (d) A large wooden screw turning in a nut attached to the
             crosspiece of a rude press.
  
     Jack-in-office, an insolent fellow in authority. --Wolcott.
  
     Jack-in-the-bush (Bot.), a tropical shrub with red fruit
        ({Cordia Cylindrostachya).
  
     Jack-in-the-green, a chimney sweep inclosed in a framework
        of boughs, carried in Mayday processions.
  
     Jack-in-the-pulpit (Bot.), the American plant Aris[ae]ma
        triphyllum, or Indian turnip, in which the upright spadix
        is inclosed.
  
     Jack-of-the-buttery+(Bot.),+the+stonecrop+({Sedum+acre" rel="nofollow">Jack-of-the-buttery (Bot.), the stonecrop ({Sedum acre).
        
  
     Jack-of-the-clock, a figure, usually of a man, on old
        clocks, which struck the time on the bell.
  
     Jack-on-both-sides, one who is or tries to be neutral.
  
     Jack-out-of-office, one who has been in office and is
        turned out. --Shak.
  
     Jack the Giant Killer, the hero of a well-known nursery
        story.
  
     Jack-with-a-lantern, Jack-o'-lantern.
         (a) An ignis fatuus; a will-o'-the-wisp. ``[Newspaper
             speculations] supplying so many more jack-o'-lanterns
             to the future historian.'' --Lowell.
         (b) A lantern made of a pumpkin so prepared as to show in
             illumination the features of a human face, etc.
  
     Yellow Jack (Naut.), the yellow fever; also, the quarantine
        flag. See Yellow flag, under Flag.