Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

JIBOYA — JOYFUL

JIBOYA, n. An American serpent of the largest kind.

JIG, n. A kind of light dance, or a tune or air.

1. A ballad.

JIG, v.i. To dance a jig.

JIGGER, n. In sea-language, a machine consisting of a rope about five feet long, with a block at one end and a sheave at the other, used to hold on the cable when it is heaved into the ship, by the revolution of the windlass.

JIGGISH, a. Suitable to a jig.

JIGMAKER, n. One who makes or plays jigs.

1. A ballad maker.

JIGPIN, n. A pin used by miners to hold the turn-beams, and prevent them from turning.

JILL, n. A young woman; in contempt. [See Gill.]

JILL-FLIRT, n. A light wanton woman.

JILT, n. [of uncertain etymology.] A woman who gives her lover hopes and capriciously disappoints him; a woman who trifles with her lover.

1. A name of contempt for a woman.

JILT, v.t. To encourage a lover and then frustrate his hopes; to trick in love; to give hopes to a lover and then reject him.

JILT, v.i. To play the jilt; to practice deception in love and discard lovers.

JIMMERS, n. Jointed hinges.

JINGLE, v.i. To sound with a fine sharp rattle; to clink; as jingling chains or bells. [See also Gingle.]

JINGLE, v.t. To cause to give a sharp sound, as a little bell or as pieces of metal.

The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew.

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

1. A little bell or rattle.

2. Correspondence of sound in rhymes.

JINGLING, ppr. Giving a sharp fine rattling sound, as a little bell or as pieces of metal.

JIPPO, n. A waistcoat or kind of stays for females.

JOB, n. [of unknown origin, but perhaps allied to chop, primarily to strike or drive.]

1. A piece of work; any thing to be done, whether of more or less importance. The carpenter or mason undertakes to build a house by the job. The erection of Westminster bridge was a heavy job; and it was a great job to erect Central wharf, in Boston. The mechanic has many small jobs on hand.

2. A lucrative business; an undertaking with a view to profit.

No cheek is known to blush nor heart to throb,

Save when they lose a question or a job.

3. A sudden stab with a pointed instrument. [This seems to be nearly the original sense.]

To do the job for one, to kill him.

JOB, v.t. To strike or stab with a sharp instrument.

1. To drive in a sharp pointed instrument.

JOB, v.i. To deal in the public stocks; to buy and sell as a broker.

The judge shall job, the bishop bite the town,

and mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown.

JOBBER, n. One who does small jobs.

1. A dealer in the public stocks or funds; usually called a stock-jobber.

2. One who engages in a low, lucrative affair.

JOBBERNOWL, n. A loggerhead; a blockhead. [A low word.]

JOB’S-TEARS, n. A plant of the genus Coix.

JOCKEY, n. [said to be from Jackey, a diminutive of Jack, John; primarily, a boy that rides horses.]

1. A man that rides horses in a race.

2. A dealer in horses; one who makes it his business to buy and sell horses for gain. Hence,

3. A cheat; one who deceives or takes undue advantage in trade.

JOCKEY, v.t. To cheat; to trick; to deceive in trade.

1. To jostle by riding against one.

JOCKEYSHIP, n. The art or practice of riding horses.

JOCOSE, a. [L. jocosus, from jocus, a joke.]

1. Given to jokes and jesting; merry; waggish; used of persons.

2. Containing a joke; sportive; merry; as jocose or comical airs.

JOCOSELY, adv. In jest; for sport or game; waggishly.

JOCOSENESS, n. The quality of being jocose; waggery; merriment. [Jocosity is not used.]

JOCO-SERIOUS, a. Partaking of mirth and seriousness.

JOCULAR, a. [L. jocularis, from jocus, a joke.]

1. Jocose; waggish; merry; given to jesting; used of persons.

2. Containing jokes; sportive; not serious; as a jocular expression or style.

JOCULARITY, n. Merriment; jesting.

JOCULARLY, adv. In jest; for sport or mirth.

JOCULARY, a. Jocular. [Not in use.]

JOCULATOR, n. [L.] A jester; a droll; a minstrel.

JOCULATORY, a. Droll; merrily said.

JOCUND, a. [L. jocundus, from jocus, a joke.]

Merry; gay; airy; lively; sportive.

Rural sports and jocund strains.

JOCUNDITY, JOCUNDNESS, n. State of being merry; gayety.

JOCUNDLY, adv. Merrily; gayly.

JOG, v.t. [Eng. shock, shake.] To push or shake with the elbow or hand; to give notice or excite attention by a slight push.

Sudden I jogged Ulysses.

JOG, v.i. To move by jogs or small shocks, like those of a slow trot.

So hung his destiny, never to rot,

While he might still jog on, and keep his trot.

1. To walk or travel idly, heavily or slowly.

Thus they jog on, still tricking, never thriving.

JOG, n. A push; a slight shake; a shake or push intended to give notice or awaken attention. When your friend falls asleep at church, give him a jog.

1. A rub; a small stop; obstruction.

JOGGER, n. One who walks or moves heavily and slowly.

1. One who gives a sudden push.

JOGGING, ppr. Pushing slightly.

JOGGING, n. A slight push or shake.

JOGGLE, v.t. [from jog.] To shake slightly; to give a sudden but slight push.

JOGGLED, pp. Slightly shaken.

JOGGLING, ppr. Shaking slightly.

JOHANNES, n. [John, latinized.] A Portuguese gold coin of the value of eight dollars; contracted often into joe; as a joe, or half-joe. It is named from the figure of king John, which it bears.

JOHNAPPLE, n. A sort of apple, good for spring use, when other fruit is spent.

JOIN, v.t. [L. jungo, jungere; jungo for jugo, jugum; Eng. yoke; Gr. a yoke, and a pair, to join.]

1. To set or bring one thing in contiguity with another.

Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field. Isaiah 5:8.

2. To couple; to connect; to combine; as, to join ideas.

3. To unite in league or marriage.

Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab. 2 Chronicles 18:1.

What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19:6.

4. To associate.

Go near and join thyself to this chariot. Acts 8:29.

5. To unite in any act.

Thy tuneful voice with numbers join.

6. To unite in concord.

But that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10.

The phrase, to join battle, is probably elliptical, for join in battle; or it is borrowed from the Latin, committere proelium, to send together the battle.

In general, join signifies to unite two entire things without breach or intermixture, by contact or contiguity, either temporary or permanent. It differs from connect, which signifies properly, to unite by an intermediate substance. But join, unite, and connect are often used synonymously.

JOIN, v.i. To grow to; to adhere. The place where two bones of the body join, is called a joint or articulation.

1. To be contiguous, close or in contact; as when two houses join.

2. To unite with in marriage, league, confederacy, partnership or society. Russia and Austria joined in opposition to Buonaparte’s ambitious views. Men join in great undertakings, and in companies for trade or manufacture. They join in entertainments and amusements. They join in benevolent associations. It is often followed by with.

Any other may join with him that is injured, and assist him in recovering satisfaction.

Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? Ezra 9:14.

JOINDER, n. A joining; as a joinder in demurrer.

JOINED, pp. Added; united; set or fastened together; associated; confederated.

JOINER, n. One whose occupation is to construct things by joining pieces of wood; but appropriately and usually, a mechanic who does the wood-work in the covering and finishing of buildings. This is the true and original sense of the word in Great Britain and in New England. This person is called in New York, a carpenter. [See Carpenter.]

JOINERY, n. The art of fitting and joining pieces of timber in the construction of utensils or parts of a building, so as to form one entire piece.

JOINHAND, n. Writing in which letters are joined in words; as distinguished from writing in single letters.

JOINING, ppr. Adding; making contiguous; uniting; confederating.

JOINT, n. [L. junctura. See Join.]

1. The joining of two or more things.

2. In anatomy, the joining of two or more bones; an articulation; as the elbow, the knee, or the knuckle.

3. A knot; the union of two parts of a plant; or the space between two joints; an internode; as the joint of a cane, or of a stalk of maiz.

4. A hinge; a juncture of parts which admits of motion.

5. The place where two pieces of timber are united.

6. In joinery, straight lines are called a joint, when two pieces of wood are planed.

7. One of the limbs of an animal cut up by the butcher.

Out of joint, luxated; dislocated; as when the head of a bone is displaced from its socket. Hence figuratively, confused; disordered; misplaced.

JOINT, a. Shared by two or more; as joint property.

1. United in the same profession; having an interest in the same thing; as a joint-heir or heiress.

2. United; combined; acting in concert; as a joint force; joint efforts; joint vigor.

Joint stock, the capital or fund of a company or partnership in business.

JOINT, v.t. To form with joints or articulations; used mostly in the participle; as the fingers are jointed; a cane has a jointed stalk.

1. To form many parts into one; as jointed wood.

2. To cut or divide into joints or quarters.

JOINTED, pp. Formed with articulations, as the stem of a plant.

1. Separated into joints or quarters.

JOINTER, n. A long plane, a joiner’s utensil.

JOINT-HEIR, n. [joint and heir.] A heir having a joint interest with another. Romans 8:17.

JOINTLY, adv. Together; unitedly; in concert; with cooperation.

1. With union of interest; as, to be jointly concerned in a voyage.

JOINTRESS, n. A woman who has a jointure.

JOINTSTOOL, n. A stool consisting of parts inserted in each other.

JOINT-TENANCY, n. [joint and tenant.] A tenure of estate by unity of interest, title, time and possession.

JOINT-TENANT, n. [joint and tenant.] One who holds an estate by joint-tenancy.

JOINTURE, n. An estate in lands or tenements, settled on a woman in consideration of marriage, and which she is to enjoy after her husband’s decease.

JOINTURE, v.t. To settle a jointure upon.

JOINTURED, pp. Endowed with a jointure.

JOIST, n. A small piece of timber, such as is framed into the girders and summers of a building to support a floor.

JOIST, v.t. To fit in joists; to lay joists.

JOKE, n. [L. jocus.]

1. A jest; something said for the sake of exciting a laugh; something witty or sportive; raillery. A jealous person will rarely bear a joke.

2. An illusion; something not real, or to no purpose.

Inclose whole downs in walls, ‘tis all a joke!

In joke, in jest; for the sake of raising a laugh; not in earnest.

JOKE, v.i. [L. jocor.] To jest; to be merry in words or actions.

JOKE, v.t. To rally; to cast jokes at; to make merry with.

JOKER, n. A jester; a merry fellow.

JOKING, ppr. Jesting; making merry with.

JOLE, n. [sometimes written jowl.]

1. The cheek; used in the phrase, cheek by jole, that is, with the cheeks together, close, tete a tete.

2. The head of a fish.

JOLE, v.t. To strike the head against any thing; to clash with violence. [Not used.]

JOLLILY, adv. [See Jolly.] With noisy mirth; with a disposition to noisy mirth.

JOLLIMENT, n. Mirth; merriment.

JOLLINESS, JOLLITY, n. [from jolly.] Noisy mirth; gayety; merriment; festivity.

All was now turned to jollity and game.

1. Elevation of spirit; gayety.

He with a proud jollity commanded him to leave that quarrel for him who was only worthy to enter into it.

[This word in America is not now applied to respectable company.]

JOLLY, a.

1. Merry; gay; lively; full of life and mirth; jovial. It expresses more life and noise than cheerful; as a jolly troop of huntsmen.

[It is seldom applied in colloquial usage to respectable company. We rarely say of respectable persons, they are jolly. It is applied to the young and the vulgar.]

2. Expressing mirth or inspiring it.

And with his jolly pipe delights the groves.

The coachman is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors.

3. Exciting mirth and gayety; as jolly May.

4. Like one in high health; pretty.

JOLLY-BOAT, n. A small boat belonging to a ship.

JOLT, v.i. To shake with short abrupt risings and fallings; as a carriage moving on rough ground. The carriage jolts.

JOLT, v.t. To shake with sudden jerks, as in a carriage on rough ground, or on a high trotting horse; as the horse or carriage jolts the rider.

JOLT, n. A shock or shake by a sudden jerk, as in a carriage.

JOLTER, n. He or that which jolts.

JOLTHEAD, n. A greathead; a dunce; a blockhead.

JOLTING, ppr. Giving sudden jerks or shakes.

JONQUIL, n. [L. juncus, a rush.] A plant of the genus Narcissus or daffodil, bearing beautiful flowers, of various colors, yellow and white.

JORDEN, n. A vessel for chamber uses.

JOSO, n. A small fish of the gudgeon kind.

JOSTLE, v.t. jos’l. To run against; to push.

JOSTLED, pp. Run against; pushed. We say, a thing is jostled out of its place.

JOSTLING, ppr. Running against; pushing.

JOSTLING, n. A running against; a crowding.

JOT, n. [Heb. yod.] An iota; a point; a tittle; the least quantity assignable.

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law till all shall be fulfilled. Matthew 5:18.

A man may read much, and acquire not a jot of knowledge, or be a jot the wiser.

JOT, v.t. To set down; to make a memorandum of.

JOTTING, n. A memorandum.

JOUISSANCE, n. Jollity; merriment. [Not in use.]

JOURNAL, n. jur’nal. [L. diurnum. This was originally an adjective, signifying daily, as in Spenser and Shakespeare; but the adjective is obsolete.]

1. A diary; an account of daily transactions and events; or the book containing such account.

2. Among merchants, a book in which every particular article or charge is fairly entered from the waste book or blotter.

3. In navigation, a daily register of the ship’s course and distance, the winds, weather, and other occurrences.

4. A paper published daily, or other newspaper; also, the title of a book or pamphlet published at stated times, containing an account of inventions, discoveries and improvements in arts and sciences; as the Journal de Savans; the Journal of Science.

JOURNALIST, n. jur’nalist. The writer of a journal or diary.

JOURNALIZE, v.t. jur’nalize. To enter in a journal.

JOURNEY, n. jur’ny. [L. diurnus, dies.]

1. The travel of a day.

2. Travel by land to any distance and for any time, indefinitely; as a journey from London to Paris, or to Rome; a journey to visit a brother; a week’s journey; we made two journeys to Philadelphia.

3. Passage form one place to another; as a long journey from the upper regions.

4. It may sometimes include a passing by water.

JOURNEY, v.i. jur’ny. To travel form place to place; to pass from home to a distance.

Abram journeyed, going on still towards the south. Genesis 12:9.

JOURNEYING, ppr. Traveling; passing from place to place.

JOURNEYING, n. A traveling or passing from one place to another; as the journeyings of the children of Israel.

JOURNEYMAN, n. [jounrey and man.] Strictly, a man hired to work by the day, but in fact, any mechanic who is hired to work for another in his employment, whether by the month, year or other term. It is applied only to mechanics in their own occupations.

JOURNEY-WORK, n. Work done for hire by a mechanic in his proper occupation. [This word is never applied to farming.]

JOUST. [See Just.]

JOVE, n. [L. Jovis.]

1. The name of the Supreme Deity among the Romans.

2. The planet jupiter.

Or ask of yonder argent fields above.

Why Jove’s satellites are less than Jove.

3. The air or atmosphere, or the god of the air.

And Jove descends in showers of kindly rain.

JOVIAL, a. [from Jove, supra.] Under the influence of Jupiter, the planet.

--The fixed stars astrologically differenced by the planets, and esteemed Martial or Jovial according to the colors whereby they answer these planets.

JOVIAL, a.

1. Gay; merry; airy; joyous; jolly; as a jovial youth; a jovial throng.

2. Expressive of mirth and hilarity.

His odes are some of them panegyrical, others moral, the rest are jovial or bacchanalian.

JOVIALIST, n. One who lives a jovial life.

JOVIALLY, adv. Merrily; gayly; with noisy mirth.

JOVIALNESS, n. Noisy mirth; gayety.

JOWL, n. The cheek. [See Jole.]

JOWLER, n. The name of a hunting dog, beagle or other dog.

JOWTER, n. A fish driver.

JOY, n.

1. The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits.

Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or assured approaching possession of a good.

Bring heavenly balm to heal my country’s wounds,

Joy to my soul and transport to my lay.

2. Gayety; mirth; festivity.

The roofs with joy resound.

3. Happiness; felicity.

Her heavenly form beheld, all wished her joy.

4. A glorious and triumphant state.

--Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. Hebrews 12:2.

5. The cause of joy or happiness.

For ye are our glory and joy. 1 Thessalonians 2:20.

6. A term of fondness; the cause of you.

JOY, v.i. To rejoice; to be glad; to exult.

I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18.

JOY, v.t. To give joy to; to congratulate; to entertain kindly.

1. To gladden; to exhilarate.

My soul was joyed in vain.

2. To enjoy; to have or possess with pleasure, or to have pleasure in the possession of. [Little used. See Enjoy.]

JOYANCE, n. Gayety; festivity.

JOYED, pp. Gladdened; enjoyed.

JOYFUL, a. Full of joy; very glad; exulting.

My soul shall be joyful in my God. Isaiah 61:10.

Rarely, it has of before the cause of joy.

Sad for their loss, but joyful of our life.