Job
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A task. countable, uncountable
"I've got a job for you: could you wash the dishes?"
- 2 A sudden thrust or stab; a jab or punch. obsolete
"Fair dinkum, a man ought to give you a job in the b— face."
- 3 A person who shows remarkable patience, especially in the face of great misfortune. figuratively
- 4 a damaging piece of work wordnet
- 5 An economic role for which a person is paid. countable, uncountable
"That surgeon has a great job."
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 the performance of a piece of work wordnet
- 7 Plastic surgery. countable, uncountable
"He had a nose job."
- 8 the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money wordnet
- 9 A sex act. countable, uncountable
"hand job"
- 10 the responsibility to do something wordnet
- 11 A task, or series of tasks, carried out in batch mode (especially on a mainframe computer). countable, uncountable
- 12 a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee wordnet
- 13 A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business. countable, uncountable
- 14 a crime (especially a robbery) wordnet
- 15 A robbery or heist. countable, informal, uncountable
"a bank job"
- 16 a workplace; as in the expression ‘on the job’ wordnet
- 17 Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately. countable, uncountable
- 18 an object worked on; a result produced by working wordnet
- 19 A thing or whatsit (often used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one cannot recall). colloquial, countable, uncountable
"Pass me that little job with the screw thread on it."
- 20 (computer science) a program application that may consist of several steps but is a single logical unit wordnet
- 21 The police as a profession, act of policing, or an individual police officer. UK, slang, uncountable
"“He was ex-job, Beavis. Detective sergeant out of County, Banbury, retired in ‘59.”"
- 22 any long-suffering person who withstands affliction without despairing wordnet
- 23 A penis. countable, slang, uncountable, vulgar
- 24 a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved wordnet
- 1 To do odd jobs or occasional work for hire. intransitive
"Authors of all work, to job for the season."
- 2 To peck (of a bird); (more generally) to poke or prod (at, into). archaic, intransitive, regional
"a raven pitch'd upon him, and there sate, jobbing of the sore"
- 3 invest at a risk wordnet
- 4 To work as a jobber. intransitive
- 5 To pierce or poke (someone or something), typically with a sharp or pointed object; to stab. transitive
"He had ‘jobbed out’ the eye of one gentleman."
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- 6 work occasionally wordnet
- 7 To take the loss, usually in a demeaning or submissive manner. intransitive, slang
- 8 To hit (someone) with a quick, sharp punch; to jab. Australia, transitive
"A stranger jobbed me in the mug so hard that I fell off my chair."
- 9 arranged for contracted work to be done by others wordnet
- 10 To buy and sell for profit, as securities; to speculate in. transitive
- 11 profit privately from public office and official business wordnet
- 12 To subcontract a project or delivery in small portions to a number of contractors. often, transitive
"We wanted to sell a turnkey plant, but they jobbed out the contract to small firms."
- 13 To seek private gain under pretence of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage. intransitive
"And judges job, and bishops bite the town."
- 14 To hire or let in periods of service.
"to job a carriage"
- 1 A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
- 2 A male given name from Hebrew.
- 3 A character in the Old Testament and the Qur'an, renowned for his patience.
Example
More examples"You finally succeeded in getting a job."
Etymology
From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”). More at gob, jab, chop.
Imitative.
From Latin Iob, from Ancient Greek Ἰώβ (Iṓb), from Biblical Hebrew אִיּוֹב (ʾiyyōḇ), related to אָיַב (ʾāyaḇ, “to be an enemy”) and אוֹיֵב (ʾōyēḇ, “enemy”).