jack

JACK, n.

1. A nickname or diminutive of John, used as a general term of contempt for any saucy of paltry fellow.

2. The name of an instrument that supplies the place of a boy; an instrument to pull off boots.

3. An engine to turn a spit; as a kitchen jack; a smoke jack.

4. A young pike.

5. A coat of mail.

6. A pitcher of waxed leather.

7. A small bowl thrown out for a mark to the bowlers.

8. Part of a musical instrument called a virginal.

9. The male of certain animals, as of the ass.

10. A horse or wooden frame on which wood or timer is sawed.

11. In sea-language, a flag, ensign or colors, displayed from a staff on the end of a bow-sprit.

12. In Yorkshire, half a pint. A quarter of a pint.

Jack of all trades, a person who can turn his hand to any king of business.

Jack by the hedge, a plant of the genus Erysimum, that grown under hedges.

Jack in a box, a plant of the genus Hernandia.

1. A large wooden male screw, turning in a female one.

Jack with a lantern, an ignis fatuus, a meteor that appears in low moist lands.

Jack of the clock-house, a little man that strikes the quarters in a clock.