1. A familiar nickname of, or substitute for, John.

You are John Rugby, and you are Jack Rugby.

Shak.

2. An impertinent or silly fellow; a simpleton; a boor; a clown; also,

a servant; a rustic. "Jack fool." Chaucer.

Since every Jack became a gentleman, There 's many a gentle person

made a Jack.

Shak.

3. A popular colloquial name for a sailor; -- called also Jack tar, and

Jack afloat.

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.

5. A portable machine variously constructed, for exerting great

pressure, or lifting or moving a heavy body 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.

The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section I, J, K, and L · 第 1125 / 2341 题