from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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}.]
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. (Zool.)
(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.
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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.
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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]
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14. Apple jack.
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15. Brandy.
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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.
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{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} (Zool.), 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} (Zool.), 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} (Zool.), 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}. (Zool.) 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.
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{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}).
{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}.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Yellow \Yel"low\ (y[e^]l"l[-o]), a. [Compar. {Yellower}
(y[e^]l"l[-o]*[~e]r); superl. {Yellowest}.] [OE. yelow,
yelwe, [yogh]elow, [yogh]eoluw, from AS. geolu; akin to D.
geel, OS. & OHG. gelo, G. gelb, Icel. gulr, Sw. gul, Dan.
guul, L. helvus light bay, Gr. chlo`n young verdure, chlwro`s
greenish yellow, Skr. hari tawny, yellowish. [root]49. Cf.
{Chlorine}, {Gall} a bitter liquid, {Gold}, {Yolk}.]
1. Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold
or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or
of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the
green.
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Her yellow hair was browded [braided] in a tress.
--Chaucer.
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A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought
First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.
--Milton.
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The line of yellow light dies fast away. --Keble.
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2. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he
has a yellow streak. [Slang]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
3. Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers,
etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Yellow atrophy} (Med.), a fatal affection of the liver, in
which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly
smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms
are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and
jaundice.
{Yellow bark}, calisaya bark.
{Yellow bass} (Zool.), a North American fresh-water bass
({Morone interrupta}) native of the lower parts of the
Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with
several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called
also {barfish}.
{Yellow berry}. (Bot.) Same as {Persian berry}, under
{Persian}.
{Yellow boy}, a gold coin, as a guinea. [Slang] --Arbuthnot.
{Yellow brier}. (Bot.) See under {Brier}.
{Yellow bugle} (Bot.), a European labiate plant ({Ajuga
Chamaepitys}).
{Yellow bunting} (Zool.), the European yellow-hammer.
{Yellow cat} (Zool.), a yellow catfish; especially, the
bashaw.
{Yellow copperas} (Min.), a hydrous sulphate of iron; --
called also {copiapite}.
{Yellow copper ore}, a sulphide of copper and iron; copper
pyrites. See {Chalcopyrite}.
{Yellow cress} (Bot.), a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant
({Barbarea praecox}), sometimes grown as a salad plant.
{Yellow dock}. (Bot.) See the Note under {Dock}.
{Yellow earth}, a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes
used as a yellow pigment.
{Yellow fever} (Med.), a malignant, contagious, febrile
disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice,
producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black
vomit. See {Black vomit}, in the Vocabulary.
{Yellow flag}, the quarantine flag. See under {Quarantine},
and 3d {Flag}.
{Yellow jack}.
(a) The yellow fever. See under 2d {Jack}.
(b) The quarantine flag. See under {Quarantine}.
{Yellow jacket} (Zool.), any one of several species of
American social wasps of the genus {Vespa}, in which the
color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are
noted for their irritability, and for their painful
stings.
{Yellow lead ore} (Min.), wulfenite.
{Yellow lemur} (Zool.), the kinkajou.
{Yellow macauco} (Zool.), the kinkajou.
{Yellow mackerel} (Zool.), the jurel.
{Yellow metal}. Same as {Muntz metal}, under {Metal}.
{Yellow ocher} (Min.), an impure, earthy variety of brown
iron ore, which is used as a pigment.
{Yellow oxeye} (Bot.), a yellow-flowered plant
({Chrysanthemum segetum}) closely related to the oxeye
daisy.
{Yellow perch} (Zool.), the common American perch. See
{Perch}.
{Yellow pike} (Zool.), the wall-eye.
{Yellow pine} (Bot.), any of several kinds of pine; also,
their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the
most common are valuable species are {Pinus mitis} and
{Pinus palustris} of the Eastern and Southern States, and
{Pinus ponderosa} and {Pinus Arizonica} of the Rocky
Mountains and Pacific States.
{Yellow plover} (Zool.), the golden plover.
{Yellow precipitate} (Med. Chem.), an oxide of mercury which
is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding
corrosive sublimate to limewater.
{Yellow puccoon}. (Bot.) Same as {Orangeroot}.
{Yellow rail} (Zool.), a small American rail ({Porzana
Noveboracensis}) in which the lower parts are dull yellow,
darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish
yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also
{yellow crake}.
{Yellow rattle}, {Yellow rocket}. (Bot.) See under {Rattle},
and {Rocket}.
{Yellow Sally} (Zool.), a greenish or yellowish European
stone fly of the genus {Chloroperla}; -- so called by
anglers.
{Yellow sculpin} (Zool.), the dragonet.
{Yellow snake} (Zool.), a West Indian boa ({Chilobothrus
inornatus}) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to
ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed
with black, and anteriorly with black lines.
{Yellow spot}.
(a) (Anat.) A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the
fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where
vision is most accurate. See {Eye}.
(b) (Zool.) A small American butterfly ({Polites Peckius})
of the Skipper family. Its wings are brownish, with a
large, irregular, bright yellow spot on each of the
hind wings, most conspicuous beneath. Called also
{Peck's skipper}. See Illust. under {Skipper}, n., 5.
{Yellow tit} (Zool.), any one of several species of crested
titmice of the genus {Machlolophus}, native of India. The
predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green.
{Yellow viper} (Zool.), the fer-de-lance.
{Yellow warbler} (Zool.), any one of several species of
American warblers of the genus {Dendroica} in which the
predominant color is yellow, especially {Dendroica
aestiva}, which is a very abundant and familiar species;
-- called also {garden warbler}, {golden warbler}, {summer
yellowbird}, {summer warbler}, and {yellow-poll warbler}.
{Yellow wash} (Pharm.), yellow oxide of mercury suspended in
water, -- a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate
to limewater.
{Yellow wren} (Zool.)
(a) The European willow warbler.
(b) The European wood warbler.
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