jay

n. a colourful and often noisy bird that is part of the crow family.

n. any of several species of birds within the family Corvidae, typically smaller than crows and often possessing bright plumage and a crest.

“A bright blue jay landed on the bird feeder in the garden.”

“The Eurasian jay is known for its distinctive blue wing patches and its ability to mimic the calls of other woodland birds.”

n. a slang word for a marijuana cigarette.

n. a slang term for a marijuana cigarette, derived from the first letter of 'joint'.

“He was caught outside the club lighting up a jay.”

“The group stood in the alleyway, passing a jay between them while they waited for the concert to begin.”

Slang

n. the name of the letter J.

n. the phonetic name for the tenth letter of the English alphabet, J.

“The word 'judge' starts with a jay.”

“In some older printing presses, the jay was often confused with the letter I due to their similar appearances in certain typefaces.”

Technical

n. an old-fashioned word for a person who is not very smart or who is easily fooled.

n. an archaic term for a dull, ignorant, or gullible person; the root of the modern term 'jaywalking'.

“In the old story, the city man treated the country visitor like a jay.”

“The term 'jaywalker' originally referred to a 'jay'—a person from the country who was too ignorant of city traffic to cross the street safely.”

Archaic