English words starting with J

j particle

1. noun: a neutral meson with a large mass

jab

1. noun: a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow); "he warned me with a jab with his finger"; "he made a thrusting motion with his fist"
2. noun: a quick short straight punch

jabalpur

1. noun: an industrial city of central India to the southeast of Delhi

jabat al-tahrir al-filistiniyyah

1. noun: a terrorist group formed in 1977 as the result of a split with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; became a satellite of al-Fatah; made terrorist attacks on Israel across the Lebanese border

jabbed

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jabber

1. noun: rapid and indistinct speech
2. verb: talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner

jabbered

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jabberer

1. noun: someone whose talk is trivial drivel

jabberers

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jabbering

1. noun: rapid and indistinct speech

jabbers

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jabberwocky

1. noun: nonsensical language (according to Lewis Carroll)

jabbing

1. noun: a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow); "he warned me with a jab with his finger"; "he made a thrusting motion with his fist"

jabiru

1. noun: large mostly white Australian stork
2. noun: large black-and-white stork of tropical Africa; its red bill has a black band around the middle

jabiru mycteria

1. noun: large white stork of warm regions of the world especially America

jaboncillo

1. noun: evergreen of tropical America having pulpy fruit containing saponin which was used as soap by Native Americans

jabot

1. noun: a ruffle on the front of a woman's blouse or a man's shirt

jaboticaba

1. noun: small evergreen tropical tree native to Brazil and West Indies but introduced into southern United States; grown in Brazil for its edible tough-skinned purple grapelike fruit that grows all along the branches
2. noun: tough-skinned purple grapelike tropical fruit grown in Brazil

jaboticaba tree

1. noun: small evergreen tropical tree native to Brazil and West Indies but introduced into southern United States; grown in Brazil for its edible tough-skinned purple grapelike fruit that grows all along the branches

jabots

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jabs

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jacamar

1. noun: tropical American insectivorous bird having a long sharp bill and iridescent green or bronze plumage

jacaranda

1. noun: an important Brazilian timber tree yielding a heavy hard dark-colored wood streaked with black

jacarandas

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jacinth

1. noun: a red transparent variety of zircon used as a gemstone

jack

1. noun: a small worthless amount; "you don't know jack"
2. noun: a man who serves as a sailor

jack bean

1. noun: annual semi-erect bushy plant of tropical South America bearing long pods with white seeds grown especially for forage

jack benny

1. noun: United States comedian known for his timeing and delivery and self-effacing humor (1894-1974)

jack crevalle

1. noun: fish of western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

jack dempsey

1. noun: United States prizefighter who was world heavyweight champion (1895-1983)

jack frost

1. noun: a personification of frost or winter weather

jack kennedy

1. noun: 35th President of the United States; established the Peace Corps; assassinated in Dallas (1917-1963)

jack kerouac

1. noun: United States writer who was a leading figure of the beat generation (1922-1969)

jack ladder

1. noun: (nautical) a hanging ladder of ropes or chains supporting wooden or metal rungs or steps

jack lemmon

1. noun: United States film actor (1925-2001)

jack london

1. noun: United States writer of novels based on experiences in the Klondike gold rush (1876-1916)

jack mackerel

1. noun: a California food fish

jack nicklaus

1. noun: United States golfer considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time (born in 1940)

jack oak

1. noun: a common scrubby deciduous tree of central and southeastern United States having dark bark and broad three-lobed (club-shaped) leaves; tends to form dense thickets
2. noun: small to medium deciduous oak of east central North America; leaves have sharply pointed lobes

jack of all trades

1. noun: a person able to do a variety of different jobs acceptably well
2. noun: a man skilled in various odd jobs and other small tasks

jack off

1. verb: get sexual gratification through self-stimulation

jack pine

1. noun: slender medium-sized two-needled pine of eastern North America; with yellow-green needles and scaly grey to red-brown fissured bark

jack plane

1. noun: a carpenter's plane for rough finishing

jack roosevelt robinson

1. noun: United States baseball player; first Black to play in the major leagues (1919-1972)

jack salmon

1. noun: pike-like freshwater perches

jack the ripper

1. noun: an unidentified English murderer in the 19th century

jack up

1. verb: lift with a special device; "jack up the car so you can change the tire"

jack william nicklaus

1. noun: United States golfer considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time (born in 1940)

jack-a-lantern

1. noun: a large poisonous agaric with orange caps and narrow clustered stalks; the gills are luminescent

jack-by-the-hedge

1. noun: European herb that smells like garlic

jack-in-the-box

1. noun: plaything consisting of a toy clown that jumps out of a box when the lid is opened

jack-in-the-pulpit

1. noun: common American spring-flowering woodland herb having sheathing leaves and an upright club-shaped spadix with overarching green and purple spathe producing scarlet berries
2. noun: common European arum with lanceolate spathe and short purple spadix; emerges in early spring; source of a starch called arum

jack-o-lantern

1. noun: a large poisonous agaric with orange caps and narrow clustered stalks; the gills are luminescent

jack-o-lantern fungus

1. noun: a large poisonous agaric with orange caps and narrow clustered stalks; the gills are luminescent

jack-tar

1. noun: a man who serves as a sailor

jackal

1. noun: Old World nocturnal canine mammal closely related to the dog; smaller than a wolf; sometimes hunts in a pack but usually singly or as a member of a pair

jackalope

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jackalopes

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jackals

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jackanapes

1. noun: someone who is unimportant but cheeky and presumptuous

jackass

1. noun: a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
2. noun: male donkey

jackass bat

1. noun: a large bat of the southwestern United States having spots and enormous ears

jackass penguin

1. noun: small penguin of South America and southern Africa with a braying call

jackasses

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jackboot

1. noun: (19th century) a man's high tasseled boot

jackbooted

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jackboots

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jackdaw

1. noun: common black-and-grey Eurasian bird noted for thievery

jackdaws

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jacked

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jacket

1. noun: a short coat
2. noun: an outer wrapping or casing; "phonograph records were sold in cardboard jackets"

jacket crown

1. noun: (dentistry) dental appliance consisting of an artificial crown for a broken or decayed tooth; "tomorrow my dentist will fit me for a crown"

jacket potato

1. noun: a baked potato served with the jacket on

jacketed

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jackets

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jackfruit

1. noun: East Indian tree cultivated for its immense edible fruit and seeds
2. noun: immense East Indian fruit resembling breadfruit; it contains an edible pulp and nutritious seeds that are commonly roasted

jackfruit tree

1. noun: East Indian tree cultivated for its immense edible fruit and seeds

jackhammer

1. noun: a hammer driven by compressed air

jackhammers

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jackie robinson

1. noun: United States baseball player; first Black to play in the major leagues (1919-1972)

jacking

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jacking off

1. noun: slang for masturbation

jackknife

1. noun: a large knife with one or more folding blades
2. noun: a dive in which the diver bends to touch the ankles before straightening out

jackknife clam

1. noun: marine clam having a long narrow curved thin shell

jackknife-fish

1. noun: black-and-white drumfish with an erect elongated dorsal fin

jackknifed

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jackknifes

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jackknifing

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jackknives

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jacklight

1. noun: a light used as a lure in hunting or fishing at night
2. verb: hunt with a jacklight

jackpot

1. noun: the cumulative amount involved in a game (such as poker)
2. noun: any outstanding award

jackpots

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jackrabbit

1. noun: large hare of western North America
2. verb: go forward or start with a fast, sudden movement

jackrabbits

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jacks

1. noun: a game in which jackstones are thrown and picked up in various groups between bounces of a small rubber ball

jackscrew

1. noun: screw-operated jack

jacksmelt

1. noun: a relatively large silversides of the Pacific coast of North America (known to reach 18 inches in length)

jacksnipe

1. noun: a small short-billed Old World snipe
2. noun: American sandpiper that inflates its chest when courting

jackson

1. noun: English film actress who later became a member of British Parliament (born in 1936)
2. noun: United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958)

jackson pollock

1. noun: United States artist famous for painting with a drip technique; a leader of abstract expressionism in America (1912-1956)

jacksonia

1. noun: genus of yellow-flowered Australian unarmed or spiny shrubs without true leaves but having leaflike stems or branches

jacksonian

1. noun: a follower of Andrew Jackson or his ideas
2. adjective: of or pertaining to Andrew Jackson or his presidency or his concepts of popular democracy

jacksonian epilepsy

1. noun: focal epilepsy in which the attack usually moves from distal to proximal limb muscles on the same side of the body

jacksonville

1. noun: Florida's largest city; a port and important commercial center in northeastern Florida

jackstones

1. noun: game equipment consisting of one of several small six-pointed metal pieces that are picked up while bouncing a ball in the game of jacks
2. noun: a game in which jackstones are thrown and picked up in various groups between bounces of a small rubber ball

jackstraw

1. noun: a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws

jackstraws

1. noun: a game in which players try to pick each jackstraw (or spillikin) off of a pile without moving any of the others

jacob

1. noun: French biochemist who (with Jacques Monod) studied regulatory processes in cells (born in 1920)
2. noun: (Old Testament) son of Isaac; brother of Esau; father of the twelve patriarchs of Israel; Jacob wrestled with God and forced God to bless him, so God gave Jacob the new name of Israel (meaning `one who has been strong against God')

jacob epstein

1. noun: British sculptor (born in the United States) noted for busts and large controversial works (1880-1959)

jacob harmensen

1. noun: Dutch Protestant theologian who founded Arminianism which opposed the absolute predestinarianism of John Calvin (1559-1609)

jacob's ladder

1. noun: pinnate-leaved European perennial having bright blue or white flowers
2. noun: (nautical) a hanging ladder of ropes or chains supporting wooden or metal rungs or steps

jacob's rod

1. noun: asphodel having erect smooth unbranched stem either flexuous or straight

jacob's staff

1. noun: desert shrub of southwestern United States and Mexico having slender naked spiny branches that after the rainy season put forth foliage and clusters of red flowers

jacobean

1. noun: any distinguished personage during the reign of James I
2. adjective: of or relating to James I or his reign or times; "Jacobean writers"

jacobean lily

1. noun: Mexican bulbous herb cultivated for its handsome bright red solitary flower

jacobi

1. noun: German mathematician (1804-1851)

jacobin

1. noun: a member of the radical movement that instituted the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution

jacobinic

1. adjective: of or relating to the Jacobins of the French Revolution; "Jacobinic terrorism"

jacobinical

1. adjective: of or relating to the Jacobins of the French Revolution; "Jacobinic terrorism"

jacobinism

1. noun: the ideology of the most radical element of the French Revolution that instituted the Reign of Terror