Jack \Jack\ (j[a^]k), n. [F. Jacques James, L. Jacobus, Gr. ?,
   Heb. Ya 'aq[=o]b Jacob; prop., seizing by the heel; hence, a
   supplanter. Cf. {Jacobite}, {Jockey}.]
   
[1913 Webster]

   1. A familiar nickname of, or substitute for, John.
      
[1913 Webster]


            You are John Rugby, and you are Jack Rugby. --Shak.
      
[1913 Webster]


   2. An impertinent or silly fellow; a simpleton; a boor; a
      clown; also, a servant; a rustic. "Jack fool." --Chaucer.
      
[1913 Webster]


            Since every Jack became a gentleman,
            There 's many a gentle person made a Jack. --Shak.
      
[1913 Webster]


   3. A popular colloquial name for a sailor; -- called also
      {Jack tar}, and {Jack afloat}.
      
[1913 Webster]


   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.
          
[1913 Webster]


   5. A portable machine variously constructed, for exerting
      great pressure, or lifting or moving a heavy body such as
      an automobile 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.
      
[1913 Webster]


   6. The small bowl used as a mark in the game of bowls.
      --Shak.
      
[1913 Webster]


            Like an uninstructed bowler who thinks to attain the
            jack by delivering his bowl straight forward upon
            it.                                   --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
      
[1913 Webster]


   7. The male of certain animals, as of the ass.
      
[1913 Webster]


   8. (Zool.)
      (a) A young pike; a pickerel.
      (b) The jurel.
      (c) A large, California rock fish ({Sebastodes  paucispinus}); -- called also {boccaccio}, and
          {merou}.
      (d) The wall-eyed pike.
          
[1913 Webster]


   9. A drinking measure holding half a pint; also, one holding
      a quarter of a pint. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
      
[1913 Webster]


   10. (Naut.)
       (a) A flag, containing only the union, without the fly,
           usually hoisted on a jack staff at the bowsprit cap;
           -- called also {union jack}. The American jack is a
           small blue flag, with a star for each State.
       (b) A bar of iron athwart ships at a topgallant masthead,
           to support a royal mast, and give spread to the royal
           shrouds; -- called also {jack crosstree}. --R. H.
           Dana, Jr.
           
[1913 Webster]


   11. The knave of a suit of playing cards.

   12. (pl.) A game played with small (metallic, with
       tetrahedrally oriented spikes) objects (the jacks(1950+),
       formerly jackstones) that are tossed, caught, picked up,
       and arranged on a horizontal surface in various patterns;
       in the modern American game, the movements are
       accompanied by tossing or bouncing a rubber ball on the
       horizontal surface supporting the jacks. same as
       {jackstones}.
       [PJC]

   13. Money. [slang]
       [PJC]

   14. Apple jack.
       [PJC]

   15. Brandy.
       [PJC]

   Note: Jack is used adjectively in various senses. It
         sometimes designates something cut short or diminished
         in size; as, a jack timber; a jack rafter; a jack arch,
         etc.
         
[1913 Webster]


   {Jack arch}, an arch of the thickness of one brick.

   {Jack back} (Brewing & Malt Vinegar Manuf.), a cistern which
      receives the wort. See under 1st {Back}.

   {Jack block} (Naut.), a block fixed in the topgallant or
      royal rigging, used for raising and lowering light masts
      and spars.

   {Jack boots}, boots reaching above the knee; -- worn in the
      17 century by soldiers; afterwards by fishermen, etc.

   {Jack crosstree}. (Naut.) See 10, b, above.

   {Jack curlew} (Zool.), the whimbrel.

   {Jack frame}. (Cotton Spinning) See 4
       (g), above.

   {Jack Frost}, frost or cold weather personified as a
      mischievous person.

   {Jack hare}, a male hare. --Cowper.

   {Jack lamp}, a lamp for still hunting and camp use. See def.
      4
       (n.), above.

   {Jack plane}, a joiner's plane used for coarse work.

   {Jack post}, one of the posts which support the crank shaft
      of a deep-well-boring apparatus.

   {Jack pot} (Poker Playing), the name given to the stakes,
      contributions to which are made by each player
      successively, till such a hand is turned as shall take the
      "pot," which is the sum total of all the bets. See also
      {jackpot}.

   {Jack rabbit} (Zool.), any one of several species of large
      American hares, having very large ears and long legs. The
      California species ({Lepus Californicus}), and that of
      Texas and New Mexico ({Lepus callotis}), have the tail
      black above, and the ears black at the tip. They do not
      become white in winter. The more northern prairie hare
      ({Lepus campestris}) has the upper side of the tail white,
      and in winter its fur becomes nearly white.

   {Jack rafter} (Arch.), in England, one of the shorter rafters
      used in constructing a hip or valley roof; in the United
      States, any secondary roof timber, as the common rafters
      resting on purlins in a trussed roof; also, one of the
      pieces simulating extended rafters, used under the eaves
      in some styles of building.

   {Jack salmon} (Zool.), the wall-eyed pike, or glasseye.

   {Jack sauce}, an impudent fellow. [Colloq. & Obs.]

   {Jack shaft} (Mach.), the first intermediate shaft, in a
      factory or mill, which receives power, through belts or
      gearing, from a prime mover, and transmits it, by the same
      means, to other intermediate shafts or to a line shaft.

   {Jack sinker} (Knitting Mach.), a thin iron plate operated by
      the jack to depress the loop of thread between two
      needles.

   {Jack snipe}. (Zool.) See in the Vocabulary.

   {Jack staff} (Naut.), a staff fixed on the bowsprit cap, upon
      which the jack is hoisted.

   {Jack timber} (Arch.), any timber, as a rafter, rib, or
      studding, which, being intercepted, is shorter than the
      others.

   {Jack towel}, a towel hung on a roller for common use.

   {Jack truss} (Arch.), in a hip roof, a minor truss used where
      the roof has not its full section.

   {Jack tree}. (Bot.) See 1st {Jack}, n.

   {Jack yard} (Naut.), a short spar to extend a topsail beyond
      the gaff.
      
[1913 Webster]


   {Blue jack}, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.

   {Hydraulic jack}, a jack used for lifting, pulling, or
      forcing, consisting of a compact portable hydrostatic
      press, with its pump and a reservoir containing a supply
      of liquid, as oil.

   {Jack-at-a-pinch}.
       (a) One called upon to take the place of another in an
           emergency.
       (b) An itinerant parson who conducts an occasional
           service for a fee.

   {Jack-at-all-trades}, one who can turn his hand to any kind
      of work.

   {Jack-by-the-hedge} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Erysimum}
      ({Erysimum alliaria}, or {Alliaria officinalis}), which
      grows under hedges. It bears a white flower and has a
      taste not unlike garlic. Called also, in England,
      {sauce-alone}. --Eng. Cyc.

   {Jack-in-office}, an insolent fellow in authority. --Wolcott.

   {Jack-in-the-bush} (Bot.), a tropical shrub with red fruit
      ({Cordia Cylindrostachya}).

   {Jack-in-the-green}, a chimney sweep inclosed in a framework
      of boughs, carried in Mayday processions.

   {Jack-of-the-buttery} (Bot.), the stonecrop ({Sedum acre}).
      

   {Jack-of-the-clock}, a figure, usually of a man, on old
      clocks, which struck the time on the bell.

   {Jack-on-both-sides}, one who is or tries to be neutral.

   {Jack-out-of-office}, one who has been in office and is
      turned out. --Shak.

   {Jack the Giant Killer}, the hero of a well-known nursery
      story.

   {Yellow Jack} (Naut.), the yellow fever; also, the quarantine
      flag. See {Yellow flag}, under {Flag}.
      
[1913 Webster]

Blue \Blue\ (bl[=u]), a. [Compar. {Bluer} (bl[=u]"[~e]r);
   superl. {Bluest}.] [OE. bla, blo, blew, blue, livid, black,
   fr. Icel.bl[=a]r livid; akin to Dan. blaa blue, Sw. bl[*a],
   D. blauw, OHG. bl[=a]o, G. blau; but influenced in form by F.
   bleu, from OHG. bl[=a]o.]
   1. Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it,
      whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue
      as a sapphire; blue violets. "The blue firmament."
      --Milton.
      
[1913 Webster]


   2. Pale, without redness or glare, -- said of a flame; hence,
      of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence
      of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air
      was blue with oaths.
      
[1913 Webster]


   3. Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue.
      
[1913 Webster]


   4. Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as,
      thongs looked blue. [Colloq.]
      
[1913 Webster]


   5. Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour
      religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals;
      inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality;
      as, blue laws.
      
[1913 Webster]


   6. Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of
      {bluestocking}. [Colloq.]
      
[1913 Webster]


            The ladies were very blue and well informed.
                                                  --Thackeray.
      
[1913 Webster]


   {Blue asbestus}. See {Crocidolite}.

   {Blue black}, of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost
      black.

   {Blue blood}. See under {Blood}.

   {Blue buck} (Zool.), a small South African antelope
      ({Cephalophus pygmaeus}); also applied to a larger
      species ({AEgoceras leucophaeus}); the blaubok.

   {Blue cod} (Zool.), the buffalo cod.

   {Blue crab} (Zool.), the common edible crab of the Atlantic
      coast of the United States ({Callinectes hastatus}).

   {Blue curls} (Bot.), a common plant ({Trichostema  dichotomum}), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also
      {bastard pennyroyal}.

   {Blue devils}, apparitions supposed to be seen by persons
      suffering with {delirium tremens}; hence, very low
      spirits. "Can Gumbo shut the hall door upon blue devils,
      or lay them all in a red sea of claret?" --Thackeray.

   {Blue gage}. See under {Gage}, a plum.

   {Blue gum}, an Australian myrtaceous tree ({Eucalyptus  globulus}), of the loftiest proportions, now cultivated in
      tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as
      a protection against malaria. The essential oil is
      beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very
      useful. See {Eucalyptus}.

   {Blue jack}, {Blue stone}, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.
      

   {Blue jacket}, a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing a naval
      uniform.

   {Blue jaundice}. See under {Jaundice}.

   {Blue laws}, a name first used in the eighteenth century to
      describe certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor
      reported to have been enacted in New Haven; hence, any
      puritanical laws. [U. S.]

   {Blue light}, a composition which burns with a brilliant blue
      flame; -- used in pyrotechnics and as a night signal at
      sea, and in military operations.

   {Blue mantle} (Her.), one of the four pursuivants of the
      English college of arms; -- so called from the color of
      his official robes.

   {Blue mass}, a preparation of mercury from which is formed
      the blue pill. --McElrath.

   {Blue mold} or {Blue mould}, the blue fungus ({Aspergillus  glaucus}) which grows on cheese. --Brande & C.

   {Blue Monday},
      (a) a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or itself
          given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent).
      (b) a Monday considered as depressing because it is a
          workday in contrast to the relaxation of the weekend.
          

   {Blue ointment} (Med.), mercurial ointment.

   {Blue Peter} (British Marine), a blue flag with a white
      square in the center, used as a signal for sailing, to
      recall boats, etc. It is a corruption of blue repeater,
      one of the British signal flags.

   {Blue pill}. (Med.)
      (a) A pill of prepared mercury, used as an aperient, etc.
      (b) Blue mass.

   {Blue ribbon}.
      (a) The ribbon worn by members of the order of the Garter;
          -- hence, a member of that order.
      (b) Anything the attainment of which is an object of great
          ambition; a distinction; a prize. "These
          [scholarships] were the --blue ribbon of the college."
          --Farrar.
      (c) The distinctive badge of certain temperance or total
          abstinence organizations, as of the --Blue ribbon
          Army.

   {Blue ruin}, utter ruin; also, gin. [Eng. Slang] --Carlyle.

   {Blue spar} (Min.), azure spar; lazulite. See {Lazulite}.

   {Blue thrush} (Zool.), a European and Asiatic thrush
      ({Petrocossyphus cyaneas}).

   {Blue verditer}. See {Verditer}.

   {Blue vitriol} (Chem.), sulphate of copper, a violet blue
      crystallized salt, used in electric batteries, calico
      printing, etc.

   {Blue water}, the open ocean.

   {Big Blue}, the International Business Machines corporation.
      [Wall Street slang.] PJC

   {To look blue}, to look disheartened or dejected.

   {True blue}, genuine and thorough; not modified, nor mixed;
      not spurious; specifically, of uncompromising
      Presbyterianism, blue being the color adopted by the
      Covenanters.
      
[1913 Webster]


            For his religion . . .
            'T was Presbyterian, true blue.       --Hudibras.
      
[1913 Webster]