jackknifen.
/ˈdʒaknʌɪf/, U.S. /ˈdʒækˌnaɪf/ 1. A large clasp knife; esp. one carried in the pocket.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun] > pocket-knife
pocket knife1676
jackknife1683
barlow knife1779
stick knife1819
shut-knife1879
toad-stabber1885
switch-blade1909
blade1920
Batangas knife1937
switch-knife1955
1683 in Minutes Hudsons Bay Co. (1946) II. 171 Ordered Mr. Sam Banner provide..1000 Jack Knives.
?c1695 Impartial Acct. Hudson-Bay Company (single sheet) The Mechandize [sic] they Export are Trifles, viz. Beads, Hawks-Bells, Brass-rings, Combs, Jack-knives, Coblers-Awls, [etc.].
c1711 in H. M. Burt First Cent. Hist. Springfield (1899) II. 39 One Dozen of Jack Knives: at six pence the Knife.
1776 Militia Act, New Hampsh. in Outing (1895) 27 80/1 A hundred buckshot, a jack-knife and tow for wadding, six flints, one pound of powder.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations III. i. 24 Taking out his great horn-handled jack-knife..and cutting his food.
1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude 151 The old school-house and its porch, somewhat hacked by jack-knives.
1931 D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings xiv. 96 He took out a large jack-knife and thrust it in among the stones of the wall.
1966 C. Ekwensi Lokotown 18 Around his neck was a rope, and this rope carried a jack-knife.
2016 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 14 Dec. A nice touch is the waist belt, which has two small side pockets that let you store a jackknife, a multi-tool or a GPS device.
2. Diving. A dive in the pike position (pike n.9). Later also in extended use with reference to the adoption of this position as an element in gymnastics, trampolining, etc. Cf. jackknife v. 2b(b), pike n.9Compare earlier jackknife dive at Compounds 1.
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the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [noun] > diving into water > specific manner
belly flop1895
belly flopper1895
swallow dive1898
swallow-diving1898
swan dive1898
swallow1902
cannonball1905
jackknife1906
honeypot1941
belly-flopping1948
1906 R. F. Nelligan Art of Swimming iii. 36 (heading) Front Jacknife.
1922 Country Life (U.S.) July 60/3 All variety dives fall into four main groups—somersaults, twists, gainers, jack-knives.
1940 L. L. McClow & D. N. Anderson Play Gymnastics i. 5 Turn is not made until toes are touched on jackknife.
1948 L. V. Griswold Trampoline Tumbling (ed. 2) iii. 20 In assuming positions such as the jackknife..the hips are flexed and allowed to travel upward during the take-off impulse.
2011 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 6 June l2 A jackknife is achieved by touching toes (with legs stiff) in the air before transitioning into the dive position.
3. An instance of jackknifing (see jackknife v. 3a) by (a section of) a moving articulated lorry, train, etc. Cf. jackknifing n. 1.Recorded earliest in attributive use.
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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > collision or accident > folding of articulated lorry
jackknife1925
1925 A. M. Koroleff & R. C. Bryant Transportation of Logs on Sleds (Yale School of Forestry Bull. No. 13) 57 The bumping poles strike against the cross-beams and serve to transfer the push directly from one cross-beam to the succeeding one throughout the train, thus preventing a jack-knife action.
1938 Washington Post 31 Mar. 25/4 (headline) Fireman crushed when No. 11 truck does jack-knife.
1966 Times 29 Sept. 11/6 A ‘jack-knife’ is an ugly complaint of ‘artics’ as these articulated monsters [sc. lorry and trailer] are known familiarly in the trade.
2016 Australian (Nexis) 12 Apr. 12 Electronic stability control helps prevent jackknifes, rollovers and other loss-of-control crashes.
4. Statistics. A method of estimating the variance or bias of a particular statistic for a given sample, applied by calculating and comparing the same statistic for subsamples obtained by removing a single value. Frequently attributive.
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the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distortion of result > method of reducing
jackknife1961
1961 D. S. Burdick (Ph.D. thesis, Princeton Univ.) (title) Stage by stage modification of polynomial estimators by the jackknife method.
1968 F. Mosteller & J. W. Tukey in G. Lindzey & E. Aronson Handbk. Social Psychol. (ed. 2) II. x. 134 The mean of results based on several subsamples is likely to be more biased than is a single result based on all the data... A method with wide application, intended to ameliorate these problems, is the jackknife.
1983 Sci. Amer. May 107/3 The jackknife proceeds by removing one observation at a time from the original data and recalculating the statistic of interest for each of the resulting truncated data sets.
2012 Microbial Ecol. 63 351/1 Jackknife clustering was performed for all sample profiles together and non-enriched profiles alone.
Compounds
C1. attributive. With reference to the adoption of a doubled-up position by bending at the waist while keeping the legs straight and feet pointed as an element of a dive, jump, etc.; frequently in jackknife dive. Cf. sense 2.
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1902 Outing July 421/2 He must..double up in the jack-knife dive, and twist his body for the boomerang dive.
1920 R. Hughes Beauty (1921) iv. x. 256 The back jackknife somersault, the half-gainer standing,..the one-and-a-half somersault forward running—a whole catalogue of an art with a technic and a terminology of its own.
1929 Boys' Life July 11/3 At the peak of the rise you execute the jack-knife position as described above.
1990 Jrnl. Physical Educ., Recreation & Dance Aug. 14/2 Increased attention is given to gymnastics-type stunts (e.g., pinwheels, elbow balance, walkovers, front springs, jackknife jumps, eskimo rolls).
2007 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 22 July (Late ed.) tr3 His sons..did jackknife dives into the pool.
C2.
jackknife clam n. chiefly North American any of various marine bivalve molluscs with elongated shells, esp. a razor shell; the shell of such a mollusc.
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1914 Rep. Commissioner Fisheries Brit. Columbia 1913 113 The jack-knife clam (Solen sicarious) has not been recorded as living this far north.
1977 Washington Post Mag. (Nexis) 29 May 32 Jackknife clams are the longest members of the razor family... Beware of pulling them out with your hands because the narrow edges of their shells are as sharp as their name implies.
2012 C. Kemp Floating Gold ix. 169 My pockets are filled with moon snail shells and a few long straight jackknife clams.
jackknife fish n. a small sciaenid drumfish of coral reefs in the tropical West Atlantic, Equetus lanceolatus, which is white with bold dark stripes and an erect, elongated dorsal fin.
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1949 R. Allyn Dict. Fishes 36 (caption) Jackknife fish. Chaetodontidae Family.
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes xix. 336/1 (caption) The jacknife fish, Eques lanceolatus , may use boldly contrasting, dark and light regions to emphasize those parts of its outline that are not fishlike in appearance, thus momentarily confusing a potential predator.
2002 Sport Diver June 58/3 Bill points out a pair of jackknife fish on a giant old anchor.
jackknife switch n. now historical and rare (in a telephone switchboard) a switch (switch n. 3b) consisting of a circular socket designed to accommodate a plug having a single pin with two or more contacts along its length and a lateral groove between the tip and the shaft; = Jack n.2 18a.
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1880 Sci. Amer. 10 Jan. 21/1 Each person having the use of a telephone connected with the central office is called a subscriber, and his wire entering the office is connected with a small switch—a jack-knife switch.
1976 Proc. IEE 123 561/2 It was here that the ‘jack-knife’ switch, forerunner of the well-known ‘jack’, was introduced.
2009 C. Platt Make: Electronics ii. 49 In 1878, Charles E. Scribner..developed the ‘jack-knife switch’, so called because the part of it that the operator held looked like the handle of a jackknife.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
jackknifev.
/ˈdʒaknʌɪf/, U.S. /ˈdʒækˌnaɪf/ 1. † a. transitive. To cut or stab with a jackknife; to cut (something) off using a jackknife. Obsolete.
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the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > cutting > cut [verb (transitive)] > with a specific instrument
sawa1225
kembc1480
falchiona1529
hatchet1603
jackknife1806
scissor1840
knive1851
knife1890
paper-knife1898
1806 Balance (Hudson, N.Y.) 22 July 228 A sailor..Jacknifed (as he termed it) the poor creature [sc. a cat] in several places about the head.
1853 S. F. Let. 8 Nov. in New Eng. Farmer (1854) Jan. 23/1 In justice to the tall tree, I ought to add that it has sent out shoots every season from both roots and trunk..; but these have been regularly Jack-knifed.
1917 Washington Post 14 Oct. 4 (headline) Jackknifing sentries to prevent an outcry is one of the primitive fighting methods borrowed by the Tommies.
b. intransitive. figurative. Of an emotion or sensation, esp. one which is unpleasant or painful: to pass through, up, etc. (a part of the body), esp. suddenly or sharply.
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1968 M. Davidson Story of E. Roosevelt ix. 59 Suddenly a pain jackknifed up his back.
1990 D. Silber Confessions xxv. 330 The pain of love and of hope gone jackknifed through her heart.
2000 D. Holmes Caleb Trees viii. 109 Jack blinked, relief jackknifing through his gut followed by irritation that he'd so totally misread her phone call.
2006 S. Lanning Harper's Bluff xvi. 121 Fear, coupled with anger and disgust, jackknifed along her spine.
2.
a. intransitive. Of an object or structure: to buckle or give way in the centre in a manner reminiscent of a jackknife closing; to bend to the point of breaking or snapping.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of bending > bend [verb (intransitive)] > double
double?1650
jackknife1882
1882 Amer. Engineer 7 Jan. 2/1 Some portion jackknifed one panel length allowing the west end posts to reach the bottom at a distance from the pier.
1894 W. H. Storms Methods Mine Timbering 43 Almost without warning the mine caved, the immense timbers ‘jack-knifing’ and snapping like reeds.
1914 Threshermen's Rev. & Power Farming Jan. 28/2 And then, with a good many engines, the platform ‘jack-knifes’ on the driver and he is clamped up against the hot boiler.
1995 F. Walker Kiss Chase vi. 55 Twelve French sticks jack-knifed under the weight of lager party-packs.
b.
(a) intransitive. Of a person or (a part of) the body, etc.: to bend, esp. suddenly or sharply, in a manner reminiscent of a jackknife opening or closing; to move into a bent or doubled-up position. Frequently with adverb or preposition of direction.With quot. 1888 cf. use of the verbal noun in a similar context in 1897 at jackknifing n. 2.
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1887 G. W. Shears Forest Runes 52 His weary legs, jack-knifing, Gave lurch into the shanty.
1888 H. Porter in Cent. Mag. June 251/2 The practice..of dodging shots, ‘jackknifing’ under fire, proceeds from a nervousness which is often purely physical.
1901 W. O. Fuller What happened to Wigglesworth xxxv. 322 His body violently jack-knifed back and forth.
1955 T. Sterling Evil of Day v. 50 He..jack-knifed into a chintz armchair.
1960 J. H. Du Plessis Diamonds are Dangerous i. 27 His head came gasping downward as he jackknifed in pain.
1961 Times 10 Jan. 6/6 If the ordinary lap strap..is used, an occupant of the car will tend to ‘jack knife’ forward.
2009 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 29 Aug. (Travel section) 10 I jackknife into a sitting position.
(b) intransitive. Diving. Of a diver: to double up in mid-air by bending at the waist while keeping the legs straight and feet pointed; to execute a dive incorporating such a manoeuvre. Later also in extended use with reference to the adoption of this position as an element in gymnastics, trampolining, etc. Frequently with adverb or preposition of direction. Cf. jackknife n. 2, pike v.7
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1942 A. E. van Vogt in Astounding Sci.-Fiction Nov. 116/2 Abruptly it [sc. the beast] straightened visibly and bounced upward and sideways, like a frog leaping, or a diver jackknifing.
1964 W. J. Gaston Drifting Death ii. 24 I jack-knifed down to beyond twenty and finned hard for the yacht.
1991 A. Osius Second Ascent x. 112 Swooshing below the bars, jackknifing to point his toes above his head.
2017 B. Abraham Magicians Impossible 166 Jason watched a bathing-suited woman stride out onto a diving board, dive, and jackknife into the water with barely a ripple.
c. transitive. To bend (a person's body), esp. suddenly or sharply, in a manner reminiscent of a jackknife opening or closing; to move or force (a person) into a bent or doubled-up position. Frequently with adverb or preposition of direction. Also reflexive.
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1898 D. Hill Forced to War xxviii. 314 He gave Simon a peculiar twitch which jack-knifed him over his knee into the position required.
1905 Shooting & Fishing 14 Dec. 201/3 If only the wearers would stay lean and lank and continue in the enjoyment of the faculty of jackknifing themselves as in the days of their youth and symmetrical slenderness.
1952 Collier's 16 Aug. 47/3 He backed Freddie against a car, jackknifed him with a gut shot, and then nearly tore his head off.
1985 Toronto Star (Nexis) 16 Nov. g7 Cramming others into steerage, where bodies are jackknifed into tortuous positions.
2004 P. Clement Inquisitor 199 More waves of pain jackknifed her into the fetal position again.
3.
a. intransitive. Originally of an animal pulling a cart, sled, etc.: †to turn suddenly so as to be travelling in a direction that is sharply different to that of the vehicle being pulled (obsolete). Subsequently of a moving articulated lorry, train, etc.: to fold in on itself at one of the couplings, so as to form a V shape; (of a towed wagon, trailer, plough, etc.) to swing sharply to one side so as to form an acute angle with the towing vehicle.In the later sense described here jackknifing typically occurs during an uncontrolled skid or (in the case of a train) a derailment.
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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [verb (intransitive)] > suffer an accident > specific type
jackknife1886
to run out of road1922
pile1942
underrun1972
1886 G. W. Wingate Through Yellowstone Park on Horseback ix. 76 The two leading mules, with the perversity of their race, ‘Jack-knifed’, turning short around and walking between the wheelers.
1907 Jrnl. U.S. Cavalry Assoc. Apr. 648 The proper manner in which the hold the lines and whip to prevent a team from jack-knifing.
1948 Fire Control Notes 9 No. 2. 21 In backing the plow jack-knifed and at times interfered with turning movements of the tractor.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Aug. 1/8 An automobile crashed into a tractor-trailer truck that jackknifed in a driving rain.
1958 Times 12 Apr. 7/7 Nobody envies Joe Cree his new ‘artic.’, for there is always the danger that, on ice, the rear will swing round, or jack-knife.
2016 West Austral. (Perth) (Nexis) 29 June 9 The truck driver had to brake suddenly but could not prevent his vehicle clipping the car, jack-knifing and hitting a barrier.
b. transitive. To cause (a moving articulated lorry, train, etc., or a towed wagon or trailer) to jackknife (see sense 3a).
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1894 Amer. Engineer & Railroad Jrnl. Feb. 90/1 A train on the Northern Pacific Railroad ran into a deep snowbank between Boulder and Elkhorn to-day, the engine and tender being jack-knifed.
1921 Earth Mover July 11/1 The ‘Caterpillar’ handled the load down hill under perfect control without buckling or ‘jack-knifing’ the train.
1979 C. Lobb Exploring Vocational School Careers xiii. 139 Andy can practice on obstacle courses and can learn the art of backing and jackknifing his trailer.
1988 New Yorker 12 Sept. 66/3 The brake pedal requires a soft, steady touch, since too much pressure may jackknife the truck, or lock the brakes.
2005 J. F. David Judgment Day iv. 30 The pickup went into a spin and the truck driver jackknifed his truck as he tried to avoid them.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1683
v.1806