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Job¹

(jōb)

In the Bible, an upright man whose faith in God survived the test of repeated calamities.

[Hebrew 'iyyôb; see ʾb in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

job¹

(jŏb)

a. A regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession: Her job is doing drug research.

b. A position of employment: How many jobs are open at the factory?

a. A task that must be done: Let's finish this job before we start another.

b. A specified duty or responsibility: Your job is to watch the kids while we're away. See Synonyms at task.

c. Informal A difficult or strenuous task: It's a real job getting people to help out at these events.

a. A specific piece of work to be done for a set fee: an expensive repair job.

b. The object to be worked on: Those overgrown shrubs are a big job.

c. Something resulting from or produced by work: I like the job they did on those shrubs.

4. An operation done to improve one's appearance, or the result of such an operation. Often used in combination: a face job.

5. Computers A program application that may consist of several steps but is performed as a single logical unit.

6. Informal A state of affairs: Their marriage was a bad job from the start. It's a good job that we left early to avoid the traffic.

7. Informal A criminal act, especially a robbery: a bank job.

8. Informal An example of a specified type, especially of something made or constructed. Often used in combination: a new building that is just another glass and steel job; a cowboy hat that is one of those ten-gallon jobs.

v. jobbed, job·bing, jobs

v.intr.

1. To work at odd jobs.

2. To work by the piece.

3. To act as a jobber.

v.tr.

1. To purchase (merchandise) from manufacturers and sell it to retailers.

2. To arrange for (contracted work) to be done in portions by others; subcontract.

3. To transact (official business) dishonestly for private profit.

Idioms:

do a job on

1. To damage, harm, or worsen: The stylist did a real job on my hair.

2. To defecate on.

on the job

1. Paying close attention; on the alert.

2. At work; at one's place of business: Employees are not allowed to smoke while on the job.

[Perhaps from obsolete jobbe, piece, alteration of Middle English gobbe, lump; see GOB¹.]

job²

(jŏb) Chiefly Southern

tr. & intr.v. jobbed, job·bing, jobs

To jab or make a jab.

A jab.

[Middle English jobben, of imitative origin.]

Job²

(jōb)

See Table at Bible.

[After Job.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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