1813, "to thrust or strike with a point," a Scottish variant of job "to strike, pierce, thrust," from Middle English jobben "to jab, thrust, peck" (c. 1500), a word of unknown origin, perhaps imitative. Related: Jabbed; jabbing.

1825, "a thrust or poke with the point of something," from jab (v.). Meaning "a punch with the fist" is from 1889. Sense of "injection with a hypodermic needle," once beloved by newspaper headline writers, is from 1914.

"talk rapidly and indistinctly," 1650s, spelling variant of Middle English jablen (c. 1400), also javeren, jaberen, chaveren, jawin; probably ultimately echoic. Related: Jabbered; jabbering. The noun, "rapid, unintelligible talk" is 1727, from the verb. Related: Jabberment (Milton).

1823, "frill of a men's shirt," from French jabot "gizzard (of a bird), frill on a shirt front" (16c.), a word of unknown origin. Klein suggests a connection with gaver "to cram, gorge," and thus ultimately with English jaw (n.). Of women's clothing from 1869.

c. 2000, professional wrestling slang for one whose main purpose is to make the better-known wrestlers of the organization look good; he or she does this by losing to them. More commonly known as a jobber, in a specialized sense of that word (though some enthusiasts claim there is a difference), and perhaps a mock-Italianized form of that word (but compare jaboney "naive person; immigrant; hoodlum," a word of unknown origin, in American English use c. 1990). Formerly in pugilism slang such a fighter was a set-up (by 1926).

Jobber — A performer who regularly loses on television and doesn't receive much if any push. A comparable term for such a performer is jabroni, which is a favorite catch-phrase of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. To soften the blow of such labels, some wrestling promotions refer to jobbers as enhancement talent. Carpenter was the phrase used by earlier generations. ["The Professional Wrestlers' Instructional and Workout Guide," 2005]

tropical American tree, 1753, from Portuguese jacarandá, from Tupi yacaranda.

French, literally "I accuse," a phrase made famous by Emile Zola in a public letter (published Jan. 13, 1898) attacking the irregularities of the Dreyfus trial.

c. 1200, a blue gem (occasionally a red one), from Old French jacinte, iacinte "hyacinth; jacinth," or directly from Late Latin iacintus (see hyacinth). In modern use, a reddish-orange gem. The word is hyacinth with the h- lost and the initial -i- made consonantal.

dexterity game played with a ball and small objects, 1900, from earlier jackstone "small round pebble used in games" (1792), which seems to be an alteration of checkstone (1745). The metal pieces with five arms or tines, made to be used in the game, are so called from 1908.

1860, jack up "hoist, raise, lift with a jack," American English, from jack (n.) in the appliance sense. Figurative sense "increase (prices, etc.)" is 1904, American English. Related: Jacked; jacking. Jack off (v.) "masturbate" is attested from 1916, probably from jack (n.) in the old slang sense of "(erect) penis."