jockey
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a person who rides horses in professional races as a job.
n.a professional rider of racehorses, typically small and light in stature.
Simple“The jockey wore bright green and yellow silks so the owner could see him during the race.”
In context“After the final jump, the jockey urged the horse forward, securing a narrow victory in the closing seconds of the Grand National.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
n.a person who operates a specific machine or piece of equipment.
n.an operator of a particular vehicle, machine, or apparatus; frequently used in compounds like 'desk jockey' or 'disc jockey'.
Simple“He spent ten years as a computer jockey before deciding to work outdoors.”
In context“The term 'desk jockey' is often used pejoratively to describe office workers who spend their entire day performing repetitive administrative tasks.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to move or change positions skillfully to get an advantage over others.
v.to maneuver or struggle for a particular position or advantage, often involving subtle or competitive movements.
Simple“The photographers were jockeying for the best spot to take a picture of the president.”
In context“As the election approached, several junior ministers began jockeying for position within the cabinet, hoping to secure a promotion in the reshuffle.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'for'.
The word is by origin a diminutive of jock, the Northern English or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name John, which is also used generically for "boy" or "fellow" (compare Jack, Dick), at least since 1529. A familiar instance of the use of the word as a name is in "Jockey of Norfolk" in Shakespeare's Richard III. v. 3, 304. Equivalent to jock + -ey. In the 16th and 17th centuries the word was applied to horse-dealers, postilions, itinerant minstrels and vagabonds, and thus frequently bore the meaning of a cunning trickster, a "sharp", whence the verb to jockey, "to outwit" or "to do" a person out of something. The current meaning of a person who rides a horse in races was first seen in 1670.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.