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单词 job
释义

Jobn.1

Brit. /dʒəʊb/, U.S. /dʒoʊb/
Forms: Old English–1600s Iob, Middle English– Job, Middle English–1600s Iobe, 1600s Jobe.
Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Job.
Etymology: < Job (post-classical Latin Iob (Vulgate), Hellenistic Greek Ιωβ (Septuagint), Hebrew 'Iyyōḇ), the name of the patriarch and protagonist of a book of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures, whose destitution and endurance are described in the text.The pronunciation in English with initial affricate is influenced by Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French Job (a1227 in Old French). In the phrase patience of Job (James 5:11) ultimately after post-classical Latin sufferentia Iob (Vulgate), Hellenistic Greek ὑπομονή Ἰὼβ (New Testament).
(The name of) a patriarch of the land of Uz, the eponymous protagonist of a book of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures, taken as the type of extreme poverty, destitution, etc., or of patience and endurance. Frequently in similative phrases, as (as) patient as Job (also the patience of Job), and (as) poor as Job.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person > typical or type of
JobOE
the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective] > poor > very poor or destitute
(as) poor as JobOE
nakedOE
voidc1374
naisa1400
vacant1430
(as) drunk, (also mad, poor, rank, weak, etc.) as a rat?1548
Hungarian1608
pauper1690
destitute1735
farthingless1834
pebble-beached1890
piss-poor1945
the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [noun] > person
sufferantc1374
patientc1400
Job1749
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xix. 188 Gif us ungelimpas, on æhtum getimiað, þonne sceole we niman, geðyld æfter Iobe, se ðe ealle his æhta, anes dæges forleas, ac he hæfde geðyld.
a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 187 (MED) Þe man is ofeald þe..is stedefast to-genes god and men alse Iob was, þe wan wið þe wurse.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 182 (MED) Þe ilke þet al nimþ ine þolmodnesse ase dede iob and him lefþ al ine god ouercomþ þis viȝt.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) James v. 11 Ȝe herden the suffring or pacience of Job [1534 Tyndale hearde of the pacience of Iob, 1611 King James heard of the patience of Iob].
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 2505 To ben for evere til I deie As povere as Job.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 436 Ye sholden be al pacient and meke And han a swete spyced conscience Sith ye so preche of Iobes pacience.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Fabula Duorum Mercatorum (Harl.) l. 526 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 503 (MED) This newe Iob, i-cast in indigence, He weepith, wayleth, soleyn and solitarye.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 41 (MED) Yn þe er founden..þe pacience of Iob, þe chastite of daniel.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 210 Tushe, thou art as poore as Iob.
a1571 J. Jewel Expos. 1 Thess. 99 in Wks. (1611) Who hath not heard of the patience of Iob?
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 243 We passed a sad night in this place, and never had more need of Job his patience then heere.
1699 E. Ward London Spy I. viii. 11 It has kept me and my Family as poor as Job this fifteen years.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. viii. 68 You would provoke the Patience of Job . View more context for this quotation
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. viii. 25 Dr. Slop must have had three fifths of Job's patience..to have unloosed them [sc. knots].
1822 Ld. Byron Werner i. i. 401 He's poor as Job, and not so patient.
1884 W. E. Norris Thirlby Hall vi My uncle bore it with the patience of Job.
1897 ‘Ouida’ Massarenes viii They are as poor as Job and riddled with debts.
1936 T. Downing Case of Unconquered Sisters xii. 109 It's enough to try Job's own patience.
1951 J. Kerouac Let. 9 Jan. in Sel. Lett. 1940–56 (1995) 281 I am alone like Job on the foul-heap.
1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture ii. 102 I began to return later than I said I would, and instead of correcting me, she seemed to get more and more into her ‘Patience of Job’ thing.
1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton ii. 27 We remember the sufferings of Thomas Walters late of our parish whose scall was endured as Job's.
2004 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Mar. (Central ed.) a14/3 The senator replied with the patience of Job.

Phrases

P1. Phrases in which Job is taken as a type of patience or poverty: see main sense.
P2.
a. U.S. humorous (now rare). (as) poor as Job's cat = (as) poor as Job's turkey at Phrases 2b.
ΚΠ
1810 E. Fletcher Let. 29 Aug. (1965) I. 11 I was as poor as Job's cats.
1854 S. Smith Way down East 184 I should rather be as poor as Job's cat all the days of my life.
1871 Harper's Mag. Apr. 862/2 You'd feel as poor as Job's cat to hev no more'n I've got.
1930 J. Donovan Black Soil xxx. 262 People were poor as Job's cats.
b. U.S. humorous. (as) poor as Job's turkey used as a type of extreme poverty or (occasionally) patience; also the patience of Job's turkey.
ΚΠ
1817 J. M. Scott Blue Lights 137 (note) To be as poor as Job's turkey, has passed into a proverb.
1824 The Microscope 22 May 42/2 We have seen fit to say ‘the patience of Job's turkey’, instead of the common phrase, ‘as patient as Job’.
1838 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. ii. 24 Well, I'm e'en a'most starved, and Captain Jack does look as poor as Job's turkey.
1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master iv. 39 But laws! don't I remember when he was poarer nor Job's turkey?
1901 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 233/2 I knew she was as poor as Job's turkey by her looks.
1996 F. Chappell Farewell I'm bound to leave You (1997) 45 Only just quiet and watchful and poor, as the saying goes, as Job's turkey.

Compounds

C1.
Job-cry n. Obsolete a vehement lamentation like that of Job.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1891 Critic (N.Y.) 5 Sept. 114/2 There is no sound of lamentation or Job-cry in it.
C2. Compounds with Job's.
Job's comforter n. a person who aggravates distress under the guise of administering comfort.With reference to Job 16:2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > pessimism > [noun] > one who discourages others
discourager1608
disheartener1645
disencourager1716
Job's comforter1738
down-puller1861
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > depressing quality > depressing thing, person, or circumstances
cloudc1430
palla1450
melancholya1475
downdraughta1681
Job's comforter1738
damper1748
killjoy1776
wet blanket1810
down-drag1814
chill1821
dismals1829
shadow1855
down1856
a skeleton at the feast (or banquet)1857
wet blanket1857
depressor1868
dampener1887
sorry-go-round1898
wet smack1927
bringdown1935
droopy drawers1939
big chill1943
party pooper1947
misery1951
party poop1951
grinch1966
downer1969
1680 E. Hickeringill Curse ye Meroz 29 Those Preachers are like Jobs Comforters.]
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 201 Lady Smart... I think, your Ladyship looks thinner than when I saw you last. Miss... Your Ladyship is one of Job's Comforters.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) xi. 125 The evil-bodings which a succession of Job's comforters had been pouring into her ears.
1924 J. Galsworthy Old Eng. i. ii, in Plays (1928) 549 Well, good-bye, Sylvanus. You're a Job's comforter. I must be getting home. I don't like it.
2003 R. Harries After Evil iii. 54 The theologians were perhaps right..to say nothing, rather than become the worst kind of Job's comforter.
Job's drops n. Obsolete rare = Job's tears n.
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 82 In English it is called Iobs Teares or Iobs Drops, for that euery graine resembleth the Drop or Teare that falleth from the eie.
Job's news n. news of disaster.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > news or tidings > [noun] > bad news
Job's news1834
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. v, in Fraser's Mag. June 673/2 This, we think, is but Job's news to the humane reader.
1902 W. Barry Papal Monarchy xxii. 370 Charles's prayer, when this Job's news was brought him, is on record.
1981 M. Kerina Namibia 56 On the eve of a jubilee commemorating the establishment of German colonies..Job's news arrived from..German South West Africa.
Job's post n. now rare a messenger or message that brings news of disaster.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > news or tidings > [noun] > bearer of news > of bad news
Job's post1837
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iii. iv. 186 It was Friday..when this Job's-post from Dumouriez, thickly preceded and escorted by so many other Job's-posts, reached the National Convention.
1865 C. T. Brooks tr. J. P. F. Richter Hesperus I. 4 The Chaplain read over the Job's-post silently three times in succession.
1907 O. Browning Fall Napoleon v. 52 The other Job's post which reached Napoleon at Pirna was the defeat of Oudinotat Gros Beeren on August 23.
Job's tears n. a tall, grain-bearing grass, Coix lacryma-jobi, originating in South-East Asia and naturalized elsewhere; (also) the shiny white teardrop-shaped grains (pseudocarps) produced by this plant, which are used as a cereal and as decorative beads.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants, nuts, seeds, or fruits used as beads or vessels > [noun] > other plants yielding parts used as beads, etc.
Job's drops1597
Job's tears1597
coquilla-nut1851
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 82 In English it is called Iobs Teares or Iobs Drops, for that euery graine resembleth the Drop or Teare that falleth from the eie.
1777 W. Anderson Jrnl. 30 Jan. in J. Cook Jrnls. (1967) III. ii. 792 Of other plants..these are of known sorts viz Gladiolus,..Cudweed, and Jobs tears.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. 426 Coix Lacryma, the hard grains of which are known by the name of ‘Job's-tears’.
1953 Southwest. Jrnl. Anthropol. 9 305 Job's tears is a native grain crop which..is generally found in higher areas where other grains such as rice and corn will not mature.
1994 New Scientist 19 Mar. 10/1 Job's tears, a grass that normally grows about 60 centimetres tall in the tropics, has become a giant of around 4 metres.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

jobn.2

Brit. /dʒɒb/, U.S. /dʒɑb/
Forms: 1500s iobbe, 1600s iob, 1600s iobb, 1600s–1700s jobb, 1600s– job, 1800s– jab (Irish English (northern)), 1800s– jub (English regional (Gloucestershire)); also Scottish 1900s– chob (Orkney), 1900s– joab, 1900s– jobe.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: job n.3
Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps originally a specific use of job n.3The fact that the word is earliest attested in the phrase job of work at Phrases 1 (see quot. 1557-8 at sense 1a) suggests that ‘work’ may not originally have been part of the core meaning of the word. If the sense was originally ‘piece’, then the word may be a specific use of job n.3 (compare discussion of the likely semantic history at that word), and early uses of job of work at Phrases 1 may perhaps show examples of job n.3 Compare also discussion at jobber n.2 In sense 7 probably after job lot n.
1.
a. A piece of work; esp. a small and discrete piece of work done as part of one's regular occupation or profession.Recorded earliest in job of work at Phrases 1, although it is possible this represents a use of job n.3 (see etymological note).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun] > piece of work or task
workOE
notec1400
turnc1480
piece of work1533
job1557
employment1579
task1597
spot of work1689
day job1798
number1928
1557–8 Accts. in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 236 Doinge certen Iobbes of woorke.
a1627 T. Middleton Mayor of Quinborough (1661) iv. i. 47 I cannot read, I keep a Clark to do those jobbs for need.
1688 in New Jersey Archives (1881) II. 29 Old Smith I keep doeing jobs vp and down.
1726 J. Swift Let. to Pope 5 Dec. in Lett. Dr. Swift (1741) 60 I am strongly tempted to send a parcel to be printed..and make a nine-penny jobb for the Bookseller.
1798 R. Bloomfield Farmer's Boy i. 56 He..never lack'd a job for Giles to do.
1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. v. 108 This, you see, was a pretty long job, and a profitable one, she says.
1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. iii. 59 Well, well, Rogers, Simmons shall have the job.
1931 A. Bell Silver Ley viii. 102 We must get on; all the jobs are behindhand already, and we'll never get anything done to-day!
1957 Troy (N.Y.) Record 10 Sept. 26/4 (advt.) The electronic signature on your check or deposit slip gives it [sc. a bookkeeping machine] positive and automatic proof that it is handling the right job for the right customer.
1998 C. C. Harwood Kick down Door of Complacency 49 Should I go to my Continuous Improvement meeting,..or should I finish this job you've been screaming about for the last three weeks?
b. Criminals' slang. A crime, esp. one arranged beforehand; spec. a theft, a robbery.inside, outside job: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > [noun] > an instance or act of > planned or organized
job1679
put-up job1812
plant1825
voyage of discovery1857
sting1930
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a crime
crimec1384
broke1481
facta1533
malefact1534
penalty1579
malefaction1604
malefacture1635
job1679
offence1683
criminality1750
operationa1902
1679 True Narr. Proc. Sessions London 7 He and his Associates bought a Boat, and pretended to carry Brick up and down the Thames, and there did the jobb [sc. counterfeiting].
c1690 in H. E. Rollins Pepys Ballads (1931) V. 293 She rode about seven-miles farther, and then a Stage Coach she did Rob; The Passengers all cry'd out Murther: but this was a Fifty-pound Iobb.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 255 It was always reckon'd a safe Job when we heard of a new Shop.
1810 W. B. Rhodes Bombastes Furioso i. 10 I knock'd him down, then snatch'd it from his fob; ‘Watch, watch,’ he cried, when I had done the job.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 198 I thought the job was clayed over.
1884 Public Opinion 5 Sept. 301/1 He..found..stolen property sufficient to connect the thief with several ‘jobs’.
1927 E. Wallace Mixer i. 5 Even the copper on his beat knows you are mixed up in these jobs.
1961 M. Dickens Heart of London i. 70 I suppose it was they who did that job over at the fur warehouse.
2001 N.Y. Mag. 26 Nov. 123 A veteran thief..who pulls off one last job.
c. With modifying noun: a piece of work carried out using the tool or material specified.Recorded earliest in needle job n. at needle n. Compounds 1d(a). paint, spray job, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1836 E. Cheap Going to Service xi. 122 Mrs. Nutter..prepared several little needle jobs,..to take into the room where she expected to find Maria, and hoped to be able to engage her to do the work.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 23 The bath was a limited affair: a quick sponge job from a gallon or so of warm water.
1955 A. MacLean H.M.S. Ulysses x. 172 It was a brush-and-shovel job.
1971 J. Didion Play It As It Lays xxxvi. 102 The boys did a really outstanding camera job.
2007 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Dec. a1/3 Very few of China's political and business leaders these days seem to go gray... The dye job appears to have become as commonplace as the Mao suit once was.
d. colloquial (originally U.S.). As the second element in compounds, as face job, boob job, etc.: an operation involving cosmetic surgery (on the specified part of the body); the result of such an operation.Recorded earliest in nose job n. at nose n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > surgery to improve the body
job1947
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > fixation and repair operations > [noun] > repair > cosmetic
job1947
1947 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 18 Aug. 17/1 Sheila Bond, dancing star of ‘Street Scene’, had to have a nose job done on her nose job.
1976 Chicago Tribune 27 June d1/4 ‘I'm gonna have a boob job, maybe,’ she announced.
1978 Washington Post 7 Dec. b1/3 I thought of this recently because of the flap over Betty Ford and her face job. She..had some of the creases ironed out of her neck.
1986 Economist 20 Dec. 57 The faddish plastic surgery of the moment is the breast-job.
1989 What Diet & Lifestyle Dec. 12/1 Lip-jobs are overtaking nose-jobs in the cosmetic surgery stakes in America, with some surgeons reporting doing between 25 and 80 lip jobs a month.
2006 New 6 Mar. 52/1 She freely admits to having had a boob job in 2000.
e. Computing. An item of work performed by a computer; a set of programs and associated data that are stored, forwarded, or executed as a unit.batch, print job, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > data > database > data entry > [noun] > processing > item(s) to be processed
batch1956
job1958
batch job1980
1958 Acta Crystallographica 11 312/2 Input and output have been standardized... Provisions for multiple-job processing and non-stop operation were introduced.
1964 T. W. McRae Impact Computers on Accounting vii. 209 By far the most interesting development..has been the introduction of multi-programme machines, which can process a number of jobs at the same time.
1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. iv. 168 When a job is terminated, the scheduler uses the space for another job and puts the output on a work list for the output processor.
2007 Operations Res. Lett. 35 312/1 Now suppose that the server processes the jobs in a processor sharing (PS) mode.
2.
a. An isolated or casual piece of work, undertaken for a one-off payment or on a hire basis. Hence also (depreciative): a task or transaction performed perfunctorily or opportunistically for profit. Cf. jobbing adj. 1.See also odd job n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > [noun] > a business transaction
negotiationa1500
feat1588
transactiona1656
job1660
business transaction1806
operation1832
the world > action or operation > undertaking > [noun] > an undertaking > with view to profit
job1660
1660 S. Pepys Diary 2 June (1970) I. 167 I will do you all the good Jobbs I can.
1664 J. Evelyn Acct. Archit. in tr. R. Fréart Parallel Antient Archit. 119 Workmen, who from..some lucky jobb (as they call it) do generally ingrosse all the work they can hear of.
a1732 J. Gay Fables (1738) II. xiii. 123 Then marriage (as of late profest) Is but a money job at best.
1778 The Saints 4 Their Faith's a Dream, their Preaching but a Job.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. viii. 104 You see, Mr. Haley's a puttin' us in a way of a good job, I reckon.
1883 Cent. Mag. Aug. 623/2 ‘What—is this job?’.. ‘Preaching Uncle Capen's funeral service.’
1950 J. W. Hurst Growth of Amer. Law xiii. 369 A [legal] case was just a job to him, to be done in workmanlike fashion.
1996 Econ. Geogr. (Nexis) 72 49 Some take in jobs which they perform at home, particularly in industries like weaving.
2006 Daily Mail (Nexis) 18 Nov. 26 Reg drives a smart new van whose flank proclaims: ‘Reginald Construction, Master Bodger.’.. The only time he's ever punctual is when he's pitching for business. Reg currently has eight jobs on the go, all running several months late.
b. Printing. A small piece of miscellaneous work, such as the printing of posters, leaflets, cards, etc.; spec. (in early use) such a piece of work making up less than one sheet.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > material to be printed > [noun] > small piece of work
job1770
1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 226 The three other sizes [of type]..are mostly used in Heads, and for Jobbs.
1795 Let. of Compositors of London in E. Howe London Compositor (1947) i. 76 That all jobs, not exceeding one sheet, be paid at the rate of six pence per thousand.
1800 in J. Johnson Typographia (1824) II. xviii. 578 That every article under one sheet be considered a job.
1810 in J. Johnson Typographia (1824) II. xviii. 582 Jobs of one sheet or under (except Auctioneers' Catalogues and Particulars) to be cast up at sevenpence per thousand.
1841 W. Savage Dict. Art of Printing 428 Any thing which printed does not exceed a sheet, is termed a Job, and is paid for extra to the compositor, because there is no return of furniture or of letter: he has generally to put up fresh cases, and has some additional trouble in getting the right letter, and in making up the furniture.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 109 Quirewise, jobs of single leaves printed on both sides of the paper.
1916 Estimating for Printers 24 If a job repeats and the printer has kept it standing without..rent, the job should be estimated as though it were reset, and the advantage of standing type kept by the printer.
1960 P. M. Handover Printing in London vii. 183 During the eighteenth century the letterpress printers made little effort to extend the range of jobs.
1985 Frederick (Maryland) Post 15 June c1 (advt.) We specialize in..business cards, letterheads, booklets, newsletters, fliers, envelopes of all sizes... So come to the Job Shop for your business and personal printing jobs.
3.
a. A public office or position of trust which is turned to personal gain or political advantage; a transaction in which duty or the public interest is sacrificed for the sake of such an advantage. Cf. jobbery n. 1, jobs for the boys at boy n.1 and int. Phrases 4. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > [noun] > a business transaction > which sacrifices public interest
job1667
1667 S. Pepys Diary 10 Apr. (1974) VIII. 160 It [sc. Tangier] hath been hitherto..used as a jobb to do a kindness to some Lord.
1683 Loyal Observator 11 His feeders..have..put him upon another jobb.
1724 J. Swift Some Observ. Wood's Half-pence 12 I never can suppose that such Patents..were originally granted with the View of being a Jobb for the Interest of a Particular Person, to the Damage of the Publick.
1733 A. Pope Impertinent 10 Who makes a Trust, or Charity, a Job, And gets an Act of Parliament to rob.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. vii. 50 It would have been more decent in you to have called this dishonourable transaction by its true name; a job to accommodate two persons.
1808 ‘P. Plymley’ Eighth, Ninth & Last Let. x. 64 If Ireland is gone, where are jobs? where are reversions?
1833 E. G. Wakefield Eng. & Amer. II. xii. 145 Some member of the house of commons having said that this transaction was a job, Sir Robert Peel defended it.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. lxxxvi. 153 Even when jobs are exposed by the press, each particular job seems below the attention of a busy people.
1915 D. Haig Diary 14 Dec. in War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 (2005) 173 I had no ‘friends’ when it came to military promotion, and I would not tolerate a ‘job’ being done.
1936 W. S. Churchill Let. 8 Jan. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) xvii. 407 It will be a star contest, and will certainly have the sympathy of Conservatives, and all those who hate ‘jobs’ and humbug.
1979 R. J. Olney Rural Society & County Govt. 19th Cent. Lincs. vi. 116 They proposed a Lincoln man..and he was duly elected despite Chaplin's fears that the appointment would be attacked as a 'job'.
b. Private interest or advantage. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > self-interest > [noun] > personal benefit or advantage
commodity1410
singularity1426
commodomec1547
particularityc1550
commodie1575
main chance1584
self-good1594
self-interest1595
job1680
1680 R. Baxter Moral Prognostication i. xcv. 24 Those dangerous Extreams, that seem to serve some present Exigence and Jobb.
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts in Wks. (1815) IV. 275 Territories, on the keeping of which..the defence of our dominions, and, what was more dear to them, possibly, their own job, depended.
4.
a. A task, a thing to be done; an operation, a procedure; a function to be fulfilled.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun] > a duty or piece of business
affairc1390
deedc1400
business1476
occasion1587
pensum1667
job1680
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [noun] > business claiming attention > an occupation or affair
charec897
matter?c1225
journeya1352
affairc1390
notea1400
incident1485
concernment1495
actiona1500
business1524
concern1680
job1680
ploya1689
show1797
game1812
caper1839
pigeon dropping1850
shebang1869
hoodoo1876
racket1880
palaver1899
scene1964
1680 M. Stevenson Wits Paraphras'd 137 From your Fob You gave a Philtre did the Jobb.
1682 Modest Enq. Election Sheriffs London 9 Or suppose that they [sc. Papists] are again provided of one or two bigotted Fellows..that have promised to do the sanctified job [sc. the assassination of Charles II] for them.
1694 R. L'Estrange Fables (ed. 6) cccxxxii. 345 A Widow..had a Twittering towards a second husband: and she took a Gossiping Companion of hers to her Assistance, how to Manage the Jobb.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. ii. 69 I've had a hard job to find my way back.
1837 H. Grote Let. 11 May in Lewin Lett. (1909) I. ii. 355 I trust your pending job [sc. giving birth] will go off happily.
1879 R. Browning Martin Relph xvii 'Tis an ugly job: but soldiers obey commands.
1889 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Pigsticking 80 I was carried into camp and my wounds sewn up and dressed, a job which took nearly four hours.
1941 W. S. Churchill Speech in Washington Post 10 Feb. 8/7 Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.
1958 Listener 30 Oct. 704/1 A magazine programme like ‘Science is News’ has probably done its job if one of its items connects.
1969 E. W. Emery Aunt Puss & Others 14 ‘Fall sort of makes me want to shake a foot.’ ‘Yes, I'll go with you if you're bound to go, but I'm getting too old to do a good job of shaking my foot.’
1996 T. Clancy Executive Orders xi. 148 The one [sc. chill] that made you want to reach for your weapon, just to be sure that it was there, to tell yourself that you were ready to get the job done.
b. A paid position of regular employment, a post, a situation; an occupation, a profession.day, desk, office job, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > position or job > [noun]
steadc1000
noteOE
officec1300
ministry?a1475
rooma1485
placea1500
roomth1544
place1558
post1562
berth1720
situation1766
job1781
sit1853
spot1859
billet1870
engagement1884
shop1885
gig1908
lurk1916
possie1916
number1928
site1930
sits vac1945
hat1966
1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper I. 69 It was for her own loss, not only of so good a jobb, but also of a new silk gown.
1858 in Amer. Speech (1965) 40 130 But when he gets a good fat job For dat am all he cares.
1890 Bulletin (Sydney) 5 Apr. 8/1 Since then I got him a job on the station.
1917 S. Leacock Frenzied Fiction xvi. 250 They want an agent here, and I'm going over to apply for the job.
1919 Times 30 May 6/6 (advt.) ‘What is your job?’ You are a Judge—or a Painter—or a Solicitor—or a Doctor.
1940 G. D. H. Cole & M. Cole Counterpoint Murder xv. 237 He was in the same job up to about a week ago.
2005 C. Stross Accelerando iii. 82 Gianni offered him a job.
c. colloquial. A difficult task. Frequently in to have a job (to do something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)]
to have a job1832
to take (a person) all his (also her, etc.) time1842
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty
to be hard put to1631
to have a job1832
1832 J. Hogg Altrive Tales p. xiv But, then, the writing of them!—That was a job!
1843 W. T. Moncrieff Scamps of London iii. ii. 42 I had a job to find you arter they put you down the trap.
1865 J. Turrill Diary 10 Sept. in Oxfordshire Market Gardener (1993) 87 We did have a job climbing they Hills and no mistake.
1931 A. Huxley Let. 24 Aug. (1969) 351 It has been a job writing the book and I'm glad it's done.
1939 San Francisco Examiner 17 Sept. 2/2 I love ballroom dancing and I usually do just that, but at times I find it a job to express my joy of living by doing a little jitter~bugging.
1966 Listener 1 Sept. 300/2 I have had quite a job to get a copy [of a book].
1999 C. Brookmyre One Fine Day in Middle of Night (2000) 184 She had a look behind her at the room's two-seater sofa. It looked just the ticket but it was going to be a job moving it.
d. A person's particular responsibility, duty, or role. Usually with preceding possessive adjective.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun]
wikec1000
workOE
wikenc1175
misterc1225
curec1300
officec1330
ward1338
duty1375
parta1382
businessc1400
commissionc1450
besoigne1474
roomth?1504
function1533
exercitation1737
pidgin1807
job1841
biz1862
society > morality > duty or obligation > [noun] > one's duty, duties, or obligations
righteOE
devoirc1315
due?a1475
vower?a1500
job1841
society > morality > duty or obligation > responsibility > [noun] > that for which one is responsible
responsibility1779
accountability1801
job1841
1841 in C. Dickens Pic Nic Papers II. 85 I had to go with 'em frolicking, tea-partying, excursioning, and busting... It was my job to pay all the bills.
1870 C. Reade Put Yourself in his Place II. 288 The trade will make it their job to lag you.
1927 S. Haardt Let. 29 Oct. in H. L. Mencken & S. Haardt Mencken & Sara (1987) 318 I have made it my job to delve into it from every angle.
1990 D. Kavanagh Thatcherism & Brit. Politics (ed. 2) x. 295 It is not the job of government to solve as many problems as previously.
2006 G. Malkani Londonstani ii. 16 When you're in the back seat a some pimped-up Beemer it's basically your job to be cool.
e. Betting. A commission to back a racehorse; a horse on which such bets are placed, a horse worth backing. Chiefly in starting-price job, SP job.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > commission to back horse
job1889
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > horse on which bets are placed
job1889
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > defined by betting odds (miscellaneous)
hot favourite1864
job1889
springer1922
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 502/1 ‘He has got the job’, he has the putting on of the stable money.
1907 Favourite 16 Nov. 9/2 Elfin Revel was a big starting-price job for the Croxteth Plate.
1911 Turf 10 Oct. 1/1 I am not now referring to s.p. jobs.
1965 F. J. Hardy Yarns of Billy Borker 107 It's an SP job,..they'll back it off the course.
1995 Racing Post 14 July 37 (advt.) Send me just £10 and I'll send you the name of the horse by return post and if it fails to win I'll send you the names of at least three job horses each month for the next year.
2006 Irish Independent (Nexis) 7 Oct. He was off trying to undo an SP job... An SP job is a ‘starting price job’. A horse is backed in the betting shops in small amounts so as not to attract attention, thereby keeping the price down.
5. A state of affairs, a situation, a set of circumstances. Frequently with modifying adjective , as bad, good, etc. (see also to make the best of a bad job at Phrases 6).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > a profitless undertaking
wild-goose race1594
wild goose chase1597
fool's erranda1629
job1680
water haul1823
rainbow chase1840
Sisyphism1846
blind alley1854
fool's gold1870
mug's game1900
Saltash luck1914
dead end1922
boondoggle1947
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune > a fortunate event or fact
job1876
felix culpa1913
1680 Don Tomazo 224 'Twas an ill jobb for one Misfortune so soon to fall upon the neck of one another.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Badjob, an ill bout, bargain, or business.
1703 E. Ward London-Spy Compleat x. 225 I fear it prov'd a Scurvy Jobb.
1729 S. Dunster tr. Horace Satires (ed. 4) ii. iii. 175 To this Folly of Love add the Cruelty which is often the Effect of it, by which a bad Jobb is made a much worse one.
1791 H. B. Dudley Woodman iii. 70 Poor fellow!—what a devil of a job will it be, if, after all this trouble, he should find his Emily so altered.
1802 Stephenson in Naval Chron. 7 49 It would be a bad job.
1859 J. Lang Wanderings in India 404 ‘We are, unfortunately, very much in debt.’ ‘That's a bad job’, said my Lord.
1876 W. S. Gilbert Trial by Jury (ad fin.) So we've finished with the job, And a good job too!
1921 J. G. Sime Our Little Life 203 He just felt increasingly that nothing mattered, that life is a bad job, that he wished he were well out of it.
1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement ii. 65 Girls are a bit silly..and it's a good job for the men they are.
1991 A. Granger Season for Murder (1992) iv. 100 There was a silence, then Micky said peaceably, ‘All right, keep your hair on. Good job you could call him up.’
6. A job horse; a job carriage or coach. See Compounds 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > hired or for hire
hackneyc1400
hackney horse1473
job1740
job horse1748
hack horse1760
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles (plying) for hire > [noun] > hired carriage
remise1698
job coach1748
voiturin1768
slap-bang coach1797
fly1818
fly-by-night1818
fly-coach1818
job1819
fly-wagon1826
horse-fly1826
1740 tr. C. de F. de Mouhy Fortunate Country Maid II. 339 I had hired a Waiting Jobb, by the Month.
1808 Sporting Mag. 31 10 It happens..that the horses are only Jobs.
1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress 10 C—nn—g came in a job.
1863 Sat. Rev. 361 Those jobs which the Most Noble Master of the Horse thought fit to harness to the shabby landau which held the future King and Queen of England.
7. A consignment of goods for sale, esp. at a low price; a job lot. Cf. job v.2 2c.Recorded earliest in job buyer n. at Compounds 2c, and now rare except in this compound.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > article(s) to be sold > [noun] > unit of goods for sale or lot > miscellaneous or to be sold cheaply
job lot1828
job1844
1844 Times 15 Feb. 2/1 Buyer of general stock... Has conducted a trade of upwards of £20,000 per annum, and is a first-rate job buyer.
1858 Illustr. News World 1 257/3 Butcher's meat, the week's gathering, to be sold by the job.
1905 Daily Chron. 18 Nov. 3/7 As soon as a girl can do a corset, which is at all passable, even if we have to put it into the ‘jobs’—that is, lots for selling cheap—she can earn much more.
8. colloquial (originally U.S.). Chiefly with modifying word.
a. A thing of a type specified or evident from the context, esp. something manufactured or constructed (such as a vehicle, aircraft, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent thing
starOE
dainty1340
daisyc1485
say-piece1535
bravery1583
paragon1585
daint1633
rapper1653
supernaculum1704
dandy1785
roarer1813
sneezer1823
plum1825
trimmer1827
sockdolager1838
rasper1844
dinger1861
job1863
fizzer1866
champagne1880
beauty1882
pie1884
twanger1889
smasher1894
crackerjack1895
Taj Mahal1895
beaut1896
pearler1901
lollapalooza1904
bearcat1909
beaner1911
grande dame1915
Rolls-Royce1916
the nuts1917
pipperoo1939
rubydazzler1941
rumpty1941
rumptydooler1941
snodger1941
sockeroo1942
sweetheart1942
zinger1955
blue-chipper1957
ring-a-ding1959
premier cru1965
sharpie1970
stormer1978
1863 R. Semmes Jrnl. 14 May in Official Rec. Union & Confederate Navies War of Rebellion (U.S. Naval War Rec. Office) (1895) 1st Ser. II. 744 The depot of the road is a tasteful and spacious iron building...and the road itself is a very substantial job.
1897 ‘F. B. Williams’ On Many Seas xlvi. 415 He pointed..to a splendid mansion... ‘None o' your contract jobs for me,’ said he. ‘I want a house that will carry me safe through all weathers.’
1926 Writer's Monthly Nov. 395 Job, a term used to refer to any particular design of aircraft.
1930 Engineering 18 July 79/3 Showing the fuel cost of Diesel engines to be almost half that of any of the steam jobs.
1938 Harper's Mag. Jan. 141/2 There was an antiquated high-wing monoplane job.
1946 P. Brickhill & C. Norton Escape to Danger v. 50 A rather imposing moustache. It was one of those bushy black jobs.
1964 ‘A. Gilbert’ Knock, knock, who's There? i. 9 You make good contacts in a pub... There was a job called the Admiral Box where I'd never been.
1973 Daily Tel. 22 June 9 (advt.) Its suspension's almost identical to that of a £2,966 Mercedes 220. (Not to mention a few other equally pricey jobs.)
2003 New Yorker (Nexis) 6 Jan. 30 The Michael's [sc. a barber's shop] haircut is the classic you-got-a-haircut job: partable bangs, shorn neck, ears free and clear.
b. A person, esp. a young woman, of a kind specified or evident from the context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
1927 D. Hammett in Black Mask May 14/2 She's a tough little job who was probably fired for dropping her chewing gum in the soup the last place she worked.
1939 Ottawa Evening Jrnl. 25 July 7/3 He was just about to sit down to a good breakfast in Texas opposite a young woman who was a first class job.
1942 Gen 1 Sept. 12/2 A ‘ropey job’ is likely as not to be a blonde who proved uncollaborative.
1980 in S. Terkel Amer. Dreams 54 I wanted to be one of those blond jobs. That's what they used to call them—jobs. A tall job. A slim job. Somebody you could work on.
2007 Mirror (Nexis) 9 Oct. 56 World Cup bottle jobs New Zealand succumbed [to] France in Cardiff.
9. Originally U.S. colloquial (euphemistic). Excrement, a lump or piece of this; an act of defecation. Esp. in to do a job: to defecate. Cf. big job n. at big adj. and adv. Compounds 2.The singer of the words in quot. ?1942 assigns to them a date of 1892.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > defecation > [noun]
purgationa1387
shitting1386
officec1395
outpassinga1398
subduction?a1425
easementa1438
cuckingc1440
siegea1475
evacuation?1533
stool1541
egestion1547
dunging1558
purging1579
stooling1599
cackc1600
motion1602
dejection1605
excretion1640
exclusion1646
purgament1650
exoneration1651
disenteration1654
orduring1654
crapping1673
passage1681
seat1697
opening1797
defecation1825
excreting1849
poopc1890
movement1891
job1899
shit?1927
crap1937
dump1942
soiling1943
gick1959
jobbie1981
pooh1981
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > faeces > [noun]
gorec725
mixeOE
quedeeOE
turdeOE
dungOE
worthinga1225
dirta1300
drega1300
naturea1325
fen1340
ordurec1390
fimea1475
merd1486
stercory1496
avoidc1503
siegec1530
fex1540
excrement1541
hinder-fallings1561
gong1562
foil1565
voiding1577
pilgrim-salvec1580
egestion1583
shita1585
sir-reverence1592
purgament1597
filinga1622
faecesa1625
exclusion1646
faecality1653
tantadlin1654
surreverence1655
draught1659
excrementitiousness1660
jakes1701
old golda1704
dejection1728
dejecture1731
shitea1733
feculence1733
doll1825
crap1846
excreta1857
excretes1883
hockey1886
dejecta1887
job1899
number two1902
mess1903
ming1923
do1930
tomtit1930
pony1931
No. 21937
dog shit1944
Shinola1944
big job1945
biggie1953
doo-doo1954
doings1957
gick1959
pooh1960
pooh-pooh1962
dooky1965
poopy1970
whoopsie1973
pucky1980
jobbie1981
1899 B. W. Green Word-bk. Virginia Folk-speech 204 Job... Do a job, to go to stool.
?1942 in V. Randolph & G. Legman Roll me in your Arms (1992) 66 Old woman got up to do a little job.
1970 Foxfire Spring–Summer 85 He hadn't done his mornin' job, an' he just pulled his britches down an' set down in th'trail.
1990 N. Baker Room Temperature x. 86 It was time to arrange two double-square lengths of toilet paper on the tiled floor..and..try..to labor out a small pebble of job so that it fell onto the toilet paper.

Phrases

P1. job of work: a piece of work; a task; a position of employment.With early uses cf. note at sense 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > [noun] > an undertaking > thing(s) to be done > a (difficult) task
workOE
piece of work1533
job of work1557
tesh1596
task1597
stunt1880
aufgabe1902
dreich1984
1557-8Iobbes of woorke [see sense 1a].
1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum xx. 367 As if they haue a iob of worke of their weeks taske to doe, they will dispatch it vpon the Lords day.
1664 T. Killigrew Pilgrim ii. iv, in Comedies & Trag. 170 Now for a minute, I have a jobbe of work here, a minute would do it.
1746 ‘Devoniensis’ Let. in Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 406/1 Chuer, a chare, a jobb of work.
1770 Constantia xxviii. 112 I am likely to have another fine Job of Work on my Hands.
1873 A. Trollope Eustace Diamonds I. xix. 252 Arthur did not go on the search, because he had a job of work to do.
1873 A. Trollope Eustace Diamonds III. lxxii. 251 The barrister who will have the cross-examining of her..will have a job of work on his hand.
1878 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Ups & Downs xxv. 295 I ain't like you, Towney, able to coast about without a job of work from shearin' to shearin'.
1928 M. Walsh While Rivers Run xx. 279 ‘A sound job of work!’ boasted Alistair. ‘We have arriven.’
1931 ‘P. Williams’ Word of To-morrow iv. xvi. 263 Tramps..who wouldn't do an honest job of work not if it was offered them.
1990 J. M. Coetzee Age of Iron i. 7 Do you want a job of work?.. There are plenty of jobs I can give you.
P2. colloquial. to do (a person's) job (also to do the job for (a person)).
a. To do what is required by (a person), to suffice for. Also simply to do the job: to suffice; to be adequate or satisfactory.
ΚΠ
1682 Congratulatory Poem on Whigg's Entertainm. (single sheet) If they have nor Coat nor Gown to sell, Godfrey's Cravat will do the Job as well.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 312 Had they thought fit to have gone to sleep there..they had done the Jobb for us.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. i. xiii. 189 A variety of ideas afford us no notion of succession unless we perceive one come before the other; nor can it be imagined that their degrees of vividness or faintness will do the job.
1829 W. M. Thackeray Let. ?18 July (1945) I. 85 I am going to take a months dancing... I think 15 lessons will do my job.
1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene III. vi. 79 At last a shot fired by the gunner did the job; it struck her foremast, which shortly afterwards went by the board.
1934 L. Steffens Let. 17 Jan. (1938) II. 974 My orders are, when up, to go out in the air and sunshine, but no change of air will do my job.
1948 J. T. Flynn Roosevelt Myth ii. ix. 219 This, with the payroll vote and the big city machines in those states was enough to do the job.
1992 H. Mitchell One Man's Garden v. 102 No spray has ever done the job for me.
b. To bring to a state of harm; to ruin, ‘do for’; (also) to kill, destroy (also in extended use). Now rare.
ΚΠ
1690 T. D'Urfey New Poems 205 But they would finish what they had begun, So between Turk and Iew my Jobb was done.
1694 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) iv. xli. 165 He..cut the Sausage in twain... The Sausage's Job being done, [etc.].
1763 Beauties of all Mag. Sel. II. 3/2 Is it not a phrase in common to say, I'll do his jobb,—which signifies doing him a piece of mischief secretly.
1858 R. D. Bulwer-Lytton World & his Wife I. vii. 234 That Newmarket October Meeting, the last as poor Netherby rode at, just afore Jennings did the job for him.
1860 T. C. Haliburton Season-ticket xi. 331 The cleaver that was hanging right over him, suspended only by a string, and just ready to do the job for him.
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) I. 441/1 Job for him, do a man's, to ruin; knock out; kill.
P3. by the job: on the basis of payment for individual pieces of work, rather than of continuous employment; also in extended use, frequently depreciatively implying reduced quality or a lack of commitment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [phrase] > piecemeal > a small piece of work at a time
by the job1733
on the job1834
1733 G. Berkeley Let. to Tom Prior 1 May in A. C. Fraser Life & Lett. Berkeley (1871) 207 I do not design to hire one [gardener]..but only employ him by the job.
1792 ‘P. Pindar’ Tears of St. Margaret (new ed.) 35 I thank my stars, I am not like the mob, Whom Nature fabricated by the job.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. iv. 97 Creatures—things—made of bad material, put badly together; built by the job.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi xviii. 351 The teacher said he was paid by the job.
1926 M. R. Dobie tr. G. Glotz Anc. Greece at Work iv. 31 The conditions of engagement varied at the will of the parties. Certain work was done by the job.
1996 J. Morgan Debrett's New Guide Etiquette & Mod. Manners 298 Cleaning agencies..who take on contract cleaning which is also charged on an hourly basis or by the job.
P4.
a. to make a job of and variants: to carry out or manage successfully; to undertake in a serious or professional manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > make a success of [verb (transitive)]
shift?1533
to pass muster1573
to give a good account of (something, often oneself)1601
to hit off1700
to make a job of1736
to make a do of1834
to make a go of it1836
cut1900
1736 W. Arnall Complaint Children of Israel (ed. 2) 38 We think ourselves as well qualified to govern Corporations, to sit in that grave Assembly the City Common-Council, and to make a Jobb of My Lord Mayor's House as the most religious elder of Salters Hall.
1817 M. Edgeworth Ormond I. xvi. 362 Cousin Ulick would make a job of a bishop, but I would not.
a1829 J. Everett Entire Santification (1831) 6 The Lord's a wonderful teicher,—wen he undertaks onny thing he can sooin mak a job on't.
1855 J. L. Motley Let. 3 Mar. in Corr. (1889) I. vi. 172 I should not like him to read it till he can do it all at once, and make a job of it.
1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren (1956) 20 He had made a job of it all right; I could visualise the production line..when this place was going full blast.
2001 K. Barry in M. Hickey Irish Days (2004) 39 She handed over the bar to me. I said to Mother.., ‘We'll make a job of this, now.’ Which we did do... We had a big cellar, all shelved, and I used to bottle ahead of myself to get the beer into condition.
b. to make a good (also bad, etc.) job of: (with modifying adjective) to undertake or carry out with the specified result or level of success. See also to make a clean job (of it) at clean adj. 3g.
ΚΠ
?1745 Dr. Fitzpatrick Direct. to Mankind 63 Where a Felony can be compounded, with a round Allowance to you, and without Scandal or Risque, the Justice to yourself is to make a good Job of it.
1790 C. Lennox Euphemia 215 I fancy this fine man..will make a fine job of this.
1846 C. Rowcroft Fanny, Little Milliner 307 It should be right through the head—that settles at once, and makes a clean job of it.
1893 Lowell (Mass.) Daily Sun 23 Dec. That girl just gone by has made a bad job of her life, a bad mess of it.
1971 R. Rendell One Across v. 48 She's made a nice job of my hair, hasn't she? I wouldn't want Ethel to think I'd let myself go.
2005 Computer Buyer May 66/2 Consider cheaper, more conventional scanners that make a better job of the basics.
P5. to give something up as a bad job and variants: to abandon an undertaking, etc., because it is going very badly; to decide that it is futile to expend further effort on something.
ΚΠ
1801 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. May 57 Tompion gave it up for a bad job, and this might be one reason why it was so late before it was completed at the hands of Graham.
1862 G. Borrow Wild Wales I. xix. 210 The minister of the parish..had frequently entered into argument with him, but quite unsuccessfully and had at last given up the matter, as a bad job.
1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons lxix He had given up religion as a bad job.
1887 G. H. Devol Forty Years Gambler on Mississippi 267 For ten or fifteen years during my early life, the sporting men of the South tried to find a man to whip me, but they couldn't do it, and finally gave it up as a bad job.
1944 R. Lehmann Ballad & Source 55 My riding lessons had been given up as a bad job.
1997 T. Mackintosh-Smith Yemen (1999) viii. 239 For a few years a Portuguese garrison mouldered unprovisioned up on its redoubt, until Suqutra was given up as a bad job.
P6. to make the best of a bad job: to do the best one can in unfortunate or difficult circumstances. Cf. sense 5.
ΚΠ
1821 ‘Christophilus’ Vindiciae Britannicae iv. 76 You cannot be the dupe of a craft, which after failing to strangle an infant in its birth, merely adopts it, ‘to make the best of a bad job’.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 95 Accustomed to take things as they came, and to make the best of a bad job.
1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge II. xxvii. 281 She would make the best of a bad job.
1923 Spectator 9 June 972/2 The novel ends, therefore, with Derek making the best of a bad job.
1950 T. S. Eliot Cocktail Party ii. 111 Edward: Lavinia, we must make the best of a bad job. That is what he means. Reilly:..The best of a bad job is all any of us make of it.
2000 Saga Mag. Feb. 85/1 No effort was spared to make the best of a bad job..and after its unfortunate prelude, the rest of the visit went swimmingly.
P7. the devil's (own) job: an extremely difficult task. Cf. sense 4c.
ΚΠ
1826 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 419/2 The devil's own job it was ere we got rid of 'em.
1885 T. Bracken Killin' V.P. in Paddy Murphy's Ann. 60 It's the divil's own job to widstand the bewildhermints av a purty young woman.
1907 J. M. Synge Tinker's Wedding i. 1 It's the divil's job making a ring.
1922 F. H. Burnett Robin xviii. 154 ‘You propose to suggest that she shall marry you?’.. ‘Yes. It will be the devil's own job..she has abhorred me all her life.’
1999 A. Mallinson Close Run Thing vi. 119 Dan, at every river in Spain it was the same—the Devil's own job just to keep powder and fire-locks dry.
P8. on the job.
a. = by the job at Phrases 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [phrase] > piecemeal > a small piece of work at a time
by the job1733
on the job1834
1834 Times 15 Feb. 8/2 A respectable steady active man who can drive a horse and chaise, and knows town well. Would engage on the job with a family or gentleman going to town.
1870 Times 10 Aug. 3/3 A lady wishes to recommend an Italian man-servant... Will take a place permanently or on the job.
1901 To-Day 22 Aug. 115/1 ‘This cook..is very good.’ ‘She is, but she is only here on the job.’
b. Hard at work, busy; (also colloquial) engaged in sexual intercourse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupied or busy [phrase]
at work?1440
at it1609
in (full) play1669
on the run1795
on the trot1822
on the hop1863
on the job1882
for (or on) the (high) jump1884
as busy as a nailer1899
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [adjective] > having sexual intercourse
wapping1612
engendering1620
shagging1772
on the job1922
rogering1953
1882 W. Burnot Old Mother Goose iii. 12 He will have to hide his nob. Come along, we're on the job.
1890 D. Lloyd George Let. 7 Aug. (1973) 32 I am on the job Saturday or Monday.
1891 Licensed Victuallers' Gaz. 23 Jan. in J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang (1896) IV. 62/1 There was a long wrangle over the choice of referee, for no one cared to occupy that thankless post when the Lambs were on the job.
1892 E. J. Milliken 'Arry Ballads 3 'Arry is fair on the job.
1914 G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. iv. 22 She was ‘on the job’ every minute until the cottage was ‘on wheels’.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 449 Mother Slipperslapper. (Familiarly.) She's on the job herself tonight with the vet.
1937 Burlington Mag. June p. xxvi/1 The slippery pickpocket is depicted ‘on the job’.
1972 Daily Tel. 16 Nov. (Colour Suppl.) 94/3 ‘Why the hell did you play Eric Clapton's Easy Now?..Didn't you realise it was all about some guy on the job?’ And I said, ‘Yeah. How many songs aren't?’
2003 National Post (Canada) 29 Mar. to 1 (caption) Director Michael DeCarlo on the job, looking scowly and serious.
c. Horse Racing. Of a racehorse: trying to win, rather than running for exercise or practice.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [adjective] > racing qualities of horse
maiden1760
lasting1809
on the joba1889
pacemaking1937
raceable1944
a1889 in A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang (1889) I. 502/1 Trainers and jockeys..very easily gathered whether a particular horse..was ‘out for an airing’ or was on the job.
1909 Post & Paddock 22 Nov. 1/3 Their denunciations of horses ‘not trying’, being ‘out for an airing’, or ‘not on the job’ on every occasion when their speculations go wrong.
1922 Notes & Queries 9 Sept. 206/2 To be ‘on the job’ is for a horse to be ‘busy’, to be ‘out’, i.e., backed and trying.
2007 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 11 Sept. 84 Attractive prize money will see more competative [sic] racing and keen battles to the line and less horses being pulled up or ‘not on the job’.
d. attributive (chiefly with hyphens). Carried out or occurring while at work. Frequently in on-the-job training.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [adjective] > working > done or occurring while
on the job1938
1938 B. Lindley & E. K. Lindley New Deal for Youth vi. 110 Boys and girls who were receiving work experience and on-the-job training as well as additional instruction on their own time.
1947 Science 28 Feb. 217/2 Hours of work, on-the-job feeding, rest periods, etc. are also phases of the physiology of work which form an important part of a comprehensive biotechnology.
1971 Optometry Today 17 On-the-job accidents and injuries could be appreciably reduced if every worker had maximum visual efficiency for the task at hand.
1973 Amer. Speech 1969 44 243 This approach..falls short of giving the reader an accurate idea of the large role that railroad language plays in on-the-job communication.
2005 Woman & Home July 151/1 The NHS is recruiting in many areas that offer on-the-job training, such as healthcare assistants.
P9. out of a job: unemployed, redundant; = out of work adv. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
1857 Tait's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 42/1 One week at work was sufficient to put him ‘out of a job’ for many succeeding ones.
1896 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 2 211 He may be out of a job for a while, but there are at least other employers to try.
1976 B. Donoughue Diary 17 Mar. in Downing St. Diary (2005) xxiv. 701 Have worked so long to make sure that HW stuck to his guns—now he has done so I realise that I am out of a job.
1993 R. Jenkins Chief (Anglia TV shooting script) (O.E.D. Archive) 4th Ser. Episode 2. 4 Truth might put theatricality out of a job.
2008 Post & Courier (Charleston, S. Carolina) (Nexis) 13 Jan. a1 Some 7.2 million U.S. residents were out of a job and looking for work in November.
P10. colloquial (originally U.S.). to do a job on and variants: to act with destructive force or impact upon; to ruin, destroy. Cf. Phrases 2b.
ΚΠ
1908 Washington Post 25 Dec. 6/3 The Venezuelan Society for the Suppression of Unnecessary Noises appears to be doing a thorough job on Cip Castro.
1936 S. Kingsley Dead End ii. 116 They certainly did a job on him! Nothing left to look at but chopped meat.
1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture v. 200 The white man has done a job on our women's minds.
2004 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 28 Oct. (Sport section) 60 I am ready for the fight and ready to do a job on him.
P11. jobs for the boys (see boy n.1 and int. Phrases 4).
P12. to get on with the job: to carry on with work or a task without fuss or interference.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > continue doing or keep going in a course of action [verb (intransitive)] > continue with one's affairs
to get on with the job1919
1919 Times 4 Oct. 11/5 How about all the places..where the rhythm is not very distinguished and the humour is not very apparent, all the places, that is, where the music must ‘get on with the job’?
1942 ‘A. Bridge’ Frontier Passage viii. 131 Why the hell couldn't all the extremists..allow sensible people..to get on with the job?—the job being to live the good life.
1969 Ottawa Commons Deb. 24 July 11570/2 If the opposition accords so little respect to parliament that it defines governing as evil, that getting on with the job is regarded as tyranny, then I am happy to be given the chance to join issue.
2002 F. Broughton & B. Brewster How to DJ (Properly) 27 Technics SL1200 turntables..are simple, elegant machines that just get on with the job.
P13. colloquial (originally British). to be more than one's job's worth: to be liable to cost one one's job.Used esp. in the context of defending adherence to rules and regulations even at the expense of common sense: cf. jobsworth n.
ΚΠ
1925 Times 7 Jan. 8/1 (advt.) Clown. That is a bit of a snag, misery being your living. Pantaloon. If you've got ‘that Kruschen feeling’ you can't even act misery. So it's more than my job's worth to have it.
1974 Sunday Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) 6 Jan. a2/3 ‘It's more than my job's worth to say anything at all,’ one guard said brusquely.
1991 Photo Answers Mar. 46/2 Or when some bastard jobsworth comes up and says, ‘No, you can't do that, you can't do this, it's more than my job's worth.’
2004 H. Sounes Wicked Game v. 96 The cozy relationship between players and golf writers, who know it is more than their job is worth to highlight unseemly goings-on.
P14. colloquial. just the job: exactly what is wanted, the very thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > [noun] > an advantage, benefit, or favourable circumstance > a benefit > that makes happy or prosperous > a beneficial or desirable thing
good thing1745
what the doctor ordered1873
just the job1943
1943 J. L. Hunt & A. G. Pringle Service Slang 42 Just the job, if you see anything that you like, whether it is something in a shop window or a new billet, this is what you say, meaning of course that it suits you all right.
1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy (1959) 193 Three dance halls, two sun-bathing parades, lots of milk bars—just the job!
1959 ‘J. Ross’ Boy in Grey Overcoat ii. 21 I thought..she'd be just the job.
1973 E. Page Fortnight by Sea ix. 98 If Mrs Barratt could possibly see her way to letting us stay on..it really would be just the job.
2001 J. Paisley Not for Glory 136 When he thought up the tights, Fraser imagined they'd be just the job.

Compounds

C1. attributive. Hired or engaged by the job or for a limited time, not permanently retained or continuously employed, as job coach, job coachman, job gardener, job horse, etc. Cf. jobbing adj. 1. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > hired or for hire
hackneyc1400
hackney horse1473
job1740
job horse1748
hack horse1760
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles (plying) for hire > [noun] > hired carriage
remise1698
job coach1748
voiturin1768
slap-bang coach1797
fly1818
fly-by-night1818
fly-coach1818
job1819
fly-wagon1826
horse-fly1826
1748 I. Cousteil French Idiomatical & Crit. Vocab. 200 Un carosse de Remise, a Livery or Jobb Coach.
1751 F. Coventry Hist. Pompey the Little ii. vi. 175 He boasted every where how much better it was to hire Job-horses..than to run the hazard of Accidents by keeping them.
1767 Statute 7 Geo. III c. 44 in Statutes at Large (1771) X. 362 (margin) Licensed Jobb Coaches driven or let out to Hire, within the Weekly Bills.
1787 Times 12 July 2/3 Coach and harness-mender, buyer of job-carriages, &c.
1829 J. Haggard Rep. Cases Eccl. Courts 1 150 He was a little suspicious that they [sc. plants] were stolen by his job-gardener.
1835 Court Mag. 6 207/1 A job-doctor, or one whose engagement is likely to terminate with a particular service.
1879 Temple Bar Jan. 82 Count Fersen departed, and at the appointed time arrived with a job coach and horses which he had purchased.
1905 Times 9 Oct. 2/3 (advt.) To sell by auction..the job carriages and the whole of the valuable stock-in-trade.
1942 J. H. Powell Richard Rush iv. 82 There were job-horse men who held in government bonds more than a hundred thousand pounds, confectioners and woolen drapers who had even more.
1983 J. O'Donovan Wheels & Deals viii. 132 The traffic mix of mechanised and horse-drawn vehicles, including—600 outside cars, cabs and phaetons, 300 job carriages, 207 taxis, 103 buses and 22 charabancs, seemed specially designed for snarl-ups.
1993 Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 83 108 Private gardening became somewhat of a fad and there arose a lively commercial nursery and job-gardener trade.
C2.
a. General attributive and objective (in sense 4b), as job content, job loss, job search, job skill, job title, etc.; job-hungry, job-rich, adjs.Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately.
ΚΠ
1920 C. H. Parker Casual Laborer & Other Ess. iii. 121 He then resumes his haphazard job-search.
1946 Consumers' Guide (U.S.) May 16/1 Job-hungry GI's and gadget happy housewives make shining targets for swindlers.
1949 Internat. Labour Rev. Feb. 156 Job classification proper..may be defined as an arrangement of jobs according to their work content.
1951 J. M. Fraser Psychol. ii. xi. 128 The job-study provides a complete factual description of the job and the conditions in which it is carried out.
1964 G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? i. 17 Through job-assignment, nurses gain expertise but also become frustrated.
1967 A. Battersby Network Anal. (ed. 2) iv. 68 It will always be more convenient to go on using existing job-definitions for which data on performance and cost are already known.
1969 J. Argenti Managem. Techniques 153 The use of a computer to analyse trends in job content.
1971 State Services Nov. 342/1 The type of information assimilated..should include the following: job title and location, job summary, job duties,..supervision given and received.
1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 6 May 39/1 Industrialized and job-rich Morgan City.
1988 J. Neel Death's Bright Angel ii. 15 Ministers..were never keen to accept..job-losses in their heartland.
2000 Pets Mar.–Apr. 9/2 The..inmates..learn valuable and marketable job skills they can use when they resume life outside prison walls.
b.
job ad n.
ΚΠ
1980 Washington Post 1 May (Virginia Weekly section) 9/1 In one Sunday job ad, a Long Island hospital urged nurses to ‘get away from Washington, D.C.’
2008 Brentwood Gaz. (Nexis) 6 Feb. 20 Businesses that need someone can browse through hundreds of student profiles to find someone with the specific skills they need, or post a specific job ad.
job advert n.
ΚΠ
1973 B. Hopson & P. Hough Exercises in Personal & Career Devel. iii. 84 Peter's father looks up from the paper in which he has been reading the job adverts to ask Peter what he is thinking of doing when he leaves school.
2007 Northern Territory (Austral.) News (Nexis) 27 Oct. 26 The job advert says: ‘No experience necessary.’
job advertisement n.
ΚΠ
1930 B. Lasker Jewish Experiences in Amer. 64 Some of the classified job advertisements discriminating against Jews that appear daily in our newspapers.
2005 S. O'Keeffe Career Girl 84 (heading) The CareerGirl guide to job advertisement jargon.
job applicant n.
ΚΠ
1913 N.Y. Times 7 Mar. 1/13 (headline) To postal job applicants.
1955 S. Wilson Man in Gray Flannel Suit iii. 10 The company had a policy of giving all job applicants an interview.
2005 Financial Times (Nexis) 30 June 4 Many job applicants lacked both the basic and social skills required to work in the..banks.
job application n.
ΚΠ
1917 Chicago Tribune 26 Feb. 1/5 (headline) Take job applications from men 45 and over.
2006 P. Williams-Forson Building Houses out of Chicken Legs ii. vii. 192 He was fired for lying on his job application about having been to jail.
job assessment n.
ΚΠ
1945 Industry Illustr. May 26/2 The job assessment is a simple matter, which can be carried out in any factory today, without any assistance from the government.
2003 L. Fox Enron 310 A corporate culture that promotes competitive spirit and performance-based job assessment can be productive.
job candidate n.
ΚΠ
1899 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Evening Gaz. 25 July 4/3 Job candidate.
1922 Oelwein (Iowa) Daily Reg. 22 May 1/3 Yelling themselves hoarse with fervent ballyhoos for more job candidates.
2003 M. Lipman Thinking in Educ. (ed. 2) vi. 132 Many a job candidate has found himself passed over because his silence during an interview was taken to be evidence of ignorance or stupidity.
job-creating n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > lack of work > [adjective] > relating to assistance to the unemployed
job-creating1916
job creation1976
1916 Portsmouth (Ohio) Daily Times 25 Sept. 6/5 His administration and the present one can be judged only by looking back at his record of machine building, job creating and extravagance.
1962 Economist 19 May 688/2 More ‘job-creating’ projects were approved than during all of the previous six months.
2000 Econ. Affairs 20 44/1 ‘McJob’ is sometimes used in a pejorative sense. But an examination of the job-creating ability of McDonald's..suggests that this form of job should be regarded much more positively.
job holder n.
ΚΠ
1906 Arizona Republican 10 Sept. 6/3 Fifty-three job holders were assassinated in Russia last month. After all, that is cheaper than muck-raking them out of their jobs.
2007 Big Issue 15 Jan. 5 A quarter of surgeons were female, as are 43 per cent of the class one job-holders making up those who ‘run the country’.
job insecurity n.
ΚΠ
1934 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 176 43/1 Such factors as job insecurity,..and a relatively low salary range have placed unemployment relief positions in an unfavourable competitive relation to private social work.
2003 Here's Health Sept. 61/2 She'd been through a period of extreme stress at work—ridiculously long hours, low morale and job insecurity.
job interview n.
ΚΠ
1933 New Castle (Pa.) News 14 Feb. 5/8 (heading) Summon men for job interviews.
2002 A. Holmes Sleb xxviii. 213 I feel rush of fear and excitement, a bit like going for a job interview but times a hundred.
job opportunity n.
ΚΠ
1923 D. H. Smith U.S. Employm. Service i. 49 A second campaign was inaugurated with the general purpose of..keeping employers to the mark in registering job opportunities with public agencies.
1999 S. Orbach Impossibility of Sex (2000) 9 They moved around a lot.., either to catch up with some new man she was after or chasing a job opportunity that did not quite pan out.
job satisfaction n.
ΚΠ
1935 Rev. Educ. Res. 5 236 Thorndike and his associates employed wages, job satisfaction, and level of work attained as measures of job success.
1972 Accountant 21 Sept. 346/1 Prinny..would attend the first course to assess its suitability in terms of personal job-satisfaction.
2001 C. Coker Humane Warfare iv. 74 There is now a growing emphasis on the subjective well-being and quality of life. Job satisfaction is all important.
job security n.
ΚΠ
1926 H. W. Laidler New Tactics Social Confl. iii. 104 Times of relative prosperity and job security.
1959 Listener 25 June 1095/1 A number of other attitudes towards job security.
2000 J. Caughie Television Drama vii. 191 More and more programme makers found their way, voluntarily or involuntarily, into the independent sector where job security was a thing of the past.
job-seeking adj. and n.
ΚΠ
1915 Fourth Rep. Factory Investigating Comm. (State of N.Y.) II. vi. 357 A labor market..into which there is a steady flow of the job seeking immigrant.
1919 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 82 21 A balanced income in place of the opulence of overtime followed by the poverty of job seeking.
1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 6 May 39/1 Job-seeking itself can be costly.
2001 Daily Tel. 19 June 20/1 The streets are awash with job-seeking graduands at the moment, waiting for finals results and fretting about their student loans.
job specification n.
ΚΠ
1916 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 65 88 These job specifications also contain a brief description of the duties of the job.
1991 Times Educ. Suppl. 4 Jan. 42/4 Before any attempt is made at appraisal it would be wise for music teachers and headteachers to sit down together and determine a realistic job specification.
c.
job action n. (a) (as part of a military metaphor) a difficult job (cf. action n. 7); (b) now chiefly North American an organized protest by employees, such as a strike, a go-slow or slowdown, etc.Sense (a) apparently represents an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [noun] > protest > forms of
rattening1828
polytechnic1835
restriction1852
lockout1853
ca'canny1896
restrictive practice1896
go-slow1920
hartal1920
lock-in1920
working to rule1920
work-to-rule1920
cacannyism1921
job actionc1926
slowdown1926
gherao1967
work-in1967
work-to-contract1969
sick-out1970
sick-in1974
siege action1977
c1926 ‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 13 We've fought some stiff job actions.
1932 N.Y. Times 19 Nov. 9/1 (heading) Building trade row presages strikes... Green pledges job action.
2005 Metro (Toronto) 2 Nov. 3/2 Uniform adjustments will continue in the second phase of the job action with plainclothes officers being asked to wear casual clothes instead of suits.
job agency n. = employment agency n. at employment n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employment exchange
employment office1801
slave market1835
registry office1839
employment agency1851
Labour Exchange1852
employment bureau1865
employment exchange1867
labour bureau1872
pool office1884
employment service1915
buroo1934
labour1934
job agency1952
job centre1970
1952 Industr. & Labor Relations Rev. 5 472/2 It [sc. the book] provides a first-rate glimpse into the methods and techniques used by competitive bodies in the job-agency field.
2007 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 19 June 2 Job agencies charged with getting the unemployed into work can fill only half the jobs on their books in Sydney.
job analysis n. a detailed analysis of the essential factors of a particular job, and of the skills, attributes, equipment, etc., required to do it; the action of carrying out such an analysis.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > career > [noun] > analysis or grading of posts or salaries
job analysis1916
work measurement1916
relativity1944
1916 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 65 89 When an applicant is engaged, the requirements of the position he is about to fill are clearly outlined to him. For this purpose the job analysis is followed so that every point which should interest the new employe will be covered.
1923 J. D. Hackett in Managem. Engin. May Job analysis, the determination of the essential factors in a specific kind of work and of the qualifications of a worker necessary for its competent performance.
2003 C. E. Doyle Work & Organizational Psychol. i. 19 Selection begins with job analysis—a detailed specification of what the work entails and the attributes, skills, abilities, and aptitudes the person needs to perform it well.
job analyst n. a person who performs job analysis.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > people who study work or technology > [noun]
technologist1815
technographer1900
human engineer1916
job analyst1917
methods engineer1939
systems engineer1940
cyberneticist1949
cybernetician1950
human factors engineer1959
nanotechnologist1986
1917 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 31 242 The job analyst makes a study of ‘job ratios’.
2003 M. R. Barrick et al. in M. R. Barrick & A. M. Ryan Personality & Work iii. 61 Job analysts and others have devoted considerable effort to describing behavior at work.
job bank n. a list of available or suitable jobs, esp. in a particular area or profession; (now) spec. one in the form of a computer database.
ΚΠ
1965 N.Y. Times 14 Mar. viii. 1/1 The guidance center, however, plans to organize a ‘job bank’ to help applicants find employment.
1969 Michigan Law Rev. 67 1155 (note) Description of Maryland State Employment Service computerized ‘job bank’.
2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 27 Apr. iii. 4/4 Join a professional association in your field and access its job bank. Stand up at meetings and ask who knows about a job.
job book n. Printing (now historical) a book in which the details of individual pieces of miscellaneous printing work are recorded.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > record and reference books > [noun] > record of jobs
job book1808
1807 Monthly Rev. 53 407 The elevated rank of the writer, must forbid the punster from asserting that the Book of Job, by Dr. Stock, is a Job-book, and will not become a Stock-book.]
1808 C. Stower Printer's Gram. 436 (heading) Plan of the Job-Book.
1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. 487 By means of a Job Book, an Employer or Overseer will be enabled..to discover not only every charge that had been made upon a Job, but also for whom, the number printed, and the size and description, together with the full charge.
1849 Times 24 Jan. 6/6 The entry in the ‘job-book’ was this.
1989 M. Pollard Dublin's Trade in Bks. (2001) v. 182 The job-book of Henry Denmead, printer, bookseller, and stationer in Cork in 1813 provides evidence that private customers were making great use of print in their daily lives.
job-broking n. Obsolete rare = jobbing n.2 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > brokerage > [noun] > types of
job-broking1701
fogging1869
ship-brokerage1886
ship-broking1955
yacht brokerage1974
1701 D. Defoe Freeholder's Plea in Misc. (1703) 178 That the Scandalous Mechanick Upstart Mistery of job-broking should thus grow upon the Nation.
job buyer n. a person who buys job lots.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > buyer > [noun] > buyers of other specific things
cogmen1389
redemptioner1565
gold end man1605
book buyer1655
job buyer1844
koppie walloper1886
rapper1914
home shopper1922
1844Job buyer [see sense 7].
1903 Daily Chron. 7 Oct. 10/1 E. H...described as a ‘Job buyer’.
1980 J. Miller & S. Waddell Roots of Eng. 151 The average job buyer will go into a factory and try to buy stuff at a ridiculous price.
job case n. Printing (now historical) a receptacle for types, used in job printing and having boxes for both upper- and lower-case types.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > composing equipment > [noun] > case for type > types of case
lower case1683
music case1841
job case1894
1894 Amer. Dict. Printing & Bookmaking 308/2 Job case, a lower case condensed into two-thirds of its usual width, half of the boxes in the upper case being placed by its side.
1946 A. Monkman in H. Whetton Pract. Printing & Binding ii. 20/1 The two best double cases are the California Job Case..and the Improved Double Case.
2000 Boston Globe (Nexis) 1 Oct. l10 The setting of type was usually done by the printer; the casting down of the type back into the job cases was often done by apprentices.
job club n. (in the United Kingdom) an organization providing support and practical help for the long-term unemployed in seeking work; a building where such an organization is based.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > employment exchange > which offers encouragement or support
job club1985
1985 Financial Times 1 Oct. 9/1 A chain of 200 ‘jobclubs’ is to be established by the end of next year to help the long-term unemployed.
1991 Economist 5 Jan. 26/2 The government is getting much value for its money, he claims, from Jobclubs which offer the unemployed services such as free telephones and confidence-boosting sessions, but which eschew training.
2003 P. Kay et al. Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights: Scripts 1st Ser. Episode 1. 19/2 Brian Phone Alan, tell him if he's not here in half an hour he'll be playing his organ down the bloody job club. D'you hear me?
job control language n. Computing a language in which instructions may be written to control the running of jobs (sense 1e); abbreviated JCL.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > [noun] > communicating with operating system
command language1958
job control language1967
1967 N. S. M. Cox & M. W. Grose Organization Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer iv. 82 The function of these programs is to determine which additional programs are required..and to insert into the Job Stream the required Job Control Language to operate the same.
1972 D. W. Barron & I. R. Jackson Software II. 173 The user of a sophisticated operating system is faced with..the necessity of learning a job control language or a command language in which to talk to the operating system.
2004 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 20 Apr. 2 The bane of IBM users was the Job Control Language.
Job Corps n. U.S. an organization (part of the U.S. Department of Labor) which aims to provide young people from poor backgrounds with vocational skills and experience at (usually residential) training centres.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > career > [noun] > training organization
Youth Employment Service1948
Job Corps1964
1964 Newark (Ohio) Advocate 16 Mar. 1 (headline) Johnson declares war on poverty. Asks Congress to create youth Job Corps.
1965 Economist 4 Sept. 884/1 Over forty of the Job Corps centres are already in operation.
2004 G. J. Duncan & K. Magnusson in P. L. Chase-Lansdale et al. Human Devel. v. 112 The Job Corps program is very expensive ($15,000 per year), involving a three week residential program that provides educational and vocational training, counseling, health education, and job placement.
job counselling n. the provision of advice to those seeking work.
ΚΠ
1933 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 16 Jan. 7/2 (radio listing) YMCA Job Counseling Service.
1970 Times 1 June 9/1 The separation of benefit from job counselling.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) xi. 231 The road back into employment is facilitated by good training and skills development, as well as job counselling.
job description n. a formal specification of the duties and responsibilities attached to a job; (also in extended use) that which might reasonably be expected from a person in a particular context.
ΚΠ
1920 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 90 139/2 (heading) Job description. We cannot place people in positions until we know the positions; that is, we must make an adequate occupational description of every job.
1991 B. McCarthy & M. Mallowe Vice Cop 53 I don't buy cigarettes for anybody..that's not my job description.
2002 Managem. Today (Nexis) 14 Mar. 20 If a job description isn't clearly spelled out, you can find yourself playing boss and employee at the same time.
job discrimination n. discrimination on the basis of race, sex, etc., in the allocation of jobs or in the terms of employment.
ΚΠ
1920 Rep. Steel Strike 1919 (Interchurch World Movement) Index 274 Job discrimination.
1941 Public Opinion Q. Winter 647/2 The militant Italian in the North End is the one who objects most strongly and vocally to job discrimination against his nationality group.
1996 Advocate 15 Oct. 23 On ENDA, the bill to ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation, White got a pleasant surprise. It didn't pass, but it came very close.
job displacement n. the loss of jobs, esp. as a result of external factors.
ΚΠ
1928 Amer. Econ. Rev. 18 175 Meeting job displacement brought about by introduction of automatic machinery.
2002 B. J. Condon NAFTA, WTO & Global Business Strategy i. 11 The evolution of the economy would cause job displacement in any event.
job enlargement n. the allocation of tasks involving greater variety, complexity, or responsibility to an employee (typically one in a repetitive job), with the intention of increasing motivation.
ΚΠ
1948 Business Week 20 Nov. 22/2 All foremen's and many workers' jobs were greatly enlarged—even to the point where some workers do their own inspecting ([Charles R.] Walker is thinking about a report on job enlargement as a future project).
1966 T. Lupton Managem. & Social Sci. ii. 32 It might well be possible to look at individual jobs to see whether it is possible to make them less rigidly paced and repetitive and not lose output, by ‘job enlargement’ for example.
1997 Accountancy Apr. 87/2 High-minded talk of non-financial motivators,..job enlargement, job enrichment, etc, is all very well, but how can it be applied to the person standing at a production line banging rivets into widgets for eight hours a day?
job enrichment n. the allocation of tasks involving greater responsibility and autonomy to an employee (typically one in a repetitive job), with the intention of increasing motivation and job satisfaction; cf. job enlargement n.
ΚΠ
1952 C. R. Walker & R. H. Guest Man on Assembly Line xiii. 148 This type of job rotation, which clearly means job enrichment for the individual, does no violence to basic mass production principles.
2002 P. Augar & J. Palmer Rise Player Manager iii. 52 With the flattening of our hierarchical structure, we have spread job enrichment and team empowerment.
job evaluation n. the formal process of evaluating a job, esp. according to various factors, in order to rank it within an organizational structure.
ΚΠ
1926 M. R. Lott (title) Wage scales and job evaluation: scientific determination of wage rates on the basis of services rendered.
2000 Thames Water Ann. Rep. & Accts. 24/2 The use of the Hay method of job evaluation supports these reviews.
job fair n. an event at which people (esp. students) looking for employment can meet potential employers and get information about particular types of work.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > large or public event > [noun] > others
waiting Sunday1767
job fair1966
launch1969
1966 Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner 15 Feb. 11 a/3 The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a ‘Job Fair’.
2003 S. Allen Right Career Moves Handbk. iv. 86 If you attend a job fair you will usually be competing with a large number of similarly skilled or experienced candidates, so..you should prepare for a recruitment fair as if you were going for an interview with every company that you are interested in.
job font n. (also job fount) Printing (now chiefly historical) a small type font used in job printing.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > style of type > [noun] > type face or font > used in job-work > font of
job font1882
1882 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 11 p. ccxxviii It is sometimes desirable to print the Sanskrit words in a heavy or full-faced type, and for this purpose a ‘job-font’ rather than a ‘book-font’ may be employed.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 68 Job fount, a small fount of type used for displaying purposes.
1972 Jrnl. Printing Hist. Soc. 1971 7 39 A more efficient use of the full size case in accommodating the caps, figures and points only job fonts came with the devising of the treble case.
job house n. (a) a workplace where work is undertaken by the job or on a casual basis (obsolete); (b) Printing = job office n. (b) (now historical).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing trade > [noun] > printing establishment > doing only job-work
job house1800
job office1803
job shop1963
1800 Acct. Corr. Inhabitants Moon 20 With those articles [sc. Yorkshire cloths, etc.] the subscribers are at present amply supplied by a few manufacturing and job houses.
1825 T. C. Hansard Typographia 700 But, that it [sc. a kind of printing machine] could be introduced into a book-work house, or even a job-house, to execute all the variety of sizes of works and pages, was a thing which I could never believe.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 68 Job house, a term applied to printing offices distinct from book or newspaper offices.
1988 R. Sanjek Amer. Pop. Music II. iii. 129 In 1832, Uriah and Joseph James,..issued their first publication,..which was also being printed throughout the United States by many other local job houses.
job hygiene n. the presence of a congenial working environment, as a factor in employee motivation and job satisfaction.
ΚΠ
1938 Educ. Res. Bull. 17 124 Working morale, or ‘job hygiene’.
1966 T. Lupton Managem. & Social Sci. iii. 61 Good environmental conditions—so called ‘job hygiene’, i.e. good welfare facilities, meals, lighting, heating, good mates.
2000 E. McKenna Business Psychol. & Organisational Behaviour (ed. 3) iv. 98 Lack of adequate ‘job hygiene’ will cause dissatisfaction, but its presence will not of itself cause satisfaction.
job market n. the availability of employment and labour, in terms of supply and demand; the market for jobs (cf. market n. 9).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun]
labour market1816
job market1917
1917 Ogden (Utah) Examiner 8 Feb. 4/4 The fault may lie in the condition of the job market.
1950 Rev. Econ. & Statistics 32 70/2 The economic significance of any given volume of unemployment depends largely on trends in the job market itself.
2002 Times 22 Aug. i. 1/8 Language skills are the key to success in today's globalised job market.
job mobility n. movement from job to job or between sectors of the labour market; the extent to which this is possible.
ΚΠ
1941 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 55 479 For those for whom information on job mobility is available in all three cities, there were more separations to unemployment than to other employment in the decade.
1972 Accountant 12 Oct. 441/2 To cope with the problems presented by job mobility it was proposed to concentrate employees' records in ten computer centres.
1998 I. Hunter Which? Guide to Employment xiii. 221 Opportunities for UK citizens to work overseas have increased markedly over recent years... Meanwhile, job mobility within Europe has greatly improved.
job note n. a document in which the details of one or more individual pieces of work are recorded.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > a business or company > [noun] > records, reports, or documents
bookc1405
memoir1571
transfer-book1694
order book1771
job note1803
log1861
deed of association1866
logbook1869
job sheet1919
kanban1977
1803 in Naval Chron. 15 58 What is the nature of a job note? It is..an actual statement of the work performed by job and task, with the prices of the labour set against each article.
1970 Jrnl. Inst. Gas. Engineers 10 753/2 Information from the job note will be fed into the computer.
job office n. (a) (chiefly in the construction industry) an office which oversees and coordinates the pieces of work to be carried out on a particular project; (b) Printing an office at which only job printing is done (now historical); (c) an office which offers advice on finding work, or where a variety of available jobs are advertised.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing trade > [noun] > printing establishment > doing only job-work
job house1800
job office1803
job shop1963
1803 R. Pering in Naval Chron. 15 155 The quartermen..give an account of the work performed to the job office.
1818 Times 17 Sept. 1/6 (advt.) To printers.—To be disposed of, a small Job Office, in an excellent thoroughfare, established about 9 years; weight of type about 4,000; 2 presses [etc.].
1920 G. A. Hool & N. C. Johnson Handbk. Building Construction II. 1058 All the expense attached to maintaining a job office, including the job superintendent.
1924 Los Angeles Times 27 July ii. 6/2 Record set by seamen job office...The bureau also supplied ships with 12,658 seafaring men.
1995 W. S. Pretzer in H. B. Rock et al. Amer. Artisans ix. 137 Moore left Green's employ in 1834 and for more than a year ran his own commercial job office on Pennsylvania Avenue.
2001 R. Pool Fat iii. 79 She was looking for summer work..and found several possibilities in a book in her school's job office.
job press n. Printing a small press designed for job printing.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > for job-printing
job press1809
card press1821
1809 Times 7 Aug. 1/3 (advt.) To be disposed of..the materials of a small compact printing office; consisting of a very good job press, and a selected assortment of letter of the modern cut, [etc.].
1875 Harper's Mag. Mar. 531/2 America produces a remarkable variety of handy job presses, known by the name of the makers.
2001 J. V. Risser in G. Roberts et al. Leaving Readers Behind xi. 393 The paper is printed at a job press, in Hayward, across San Francisco bay.
job price n. (a) a price paid for a job lot of something (now rare); (b) a price paid for the hire of something or for work done by the job.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > price by the job
job price1831
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > price for a lot
job price1831
1831 Times 19 Feb. 2/1 (advt.) Any house that has a large quantity of Gros de Naples..that they are desirous of converting into immediate cash at a decided job price, may hear of a purchaser.
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour i. ii. 6 Mr. Buckram's job price, we should say, was as near twelve pounds a month,..as he could screw, the hirer, of course, keeping the animals.
1923 Times 9 July 7/6 (advt.) A large number of Bedroom Oddments..at job prices.
1999 M. C. Stone Markup & Profit (2004) iii. 82 Let's look at the formula used by many contractors to come up with their job price.
job print n. Printing a print made by job printing; (also) a job printer, a job office.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing specific type of work > [noun] > small or miscellaneous work
job work1798
job printing1817
job print1825
jobbing1841
1825 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 21 Oct. (advt.) Sea Island bleached shirtings, 16¾ a 17; 6 p blue and white job prints 21¼.
?1849 J. C. Calhoun Addr. to People of Southern States 24 St. Louis Union Job Print.
1873 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily Sentinel 8 June 7/6 Job prints were brisk, but standard styles are quiet.
1921 C. E. Mulford Bar-20 Three vi. 77 A hard-riding courier, relaying twice, carried the work of the job-print toward Mesquite.
1968 E. Dal Scand. Bookmaking in 20th Cent. ii. 75 His multifarious activities, from posters, newspapers and job prints down to excellent labels, besides books.
job printer n. Printing a printer who does job printing, esp. exclusively.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printer > [noun] > one who does job-work
job printer1816
jobmaster1824
1816 Providence (Rhode Island) Patriot 10 Aug. Dickerson & Wylde, (Marsden Square,) and a number of job printers, stopped also last week.
1884 J. Gould Letter-press Printer (ed. 3) 132 For job-printers the small platen machines are invaluable.
1960 P. M. Handover Printing in London vii. 194 Without the lavish production of publicity material fashionable since the second world war many job printers would be unable to meet the necessary cost of new machines and the rising cost of labour and rent.
1993 A. B. Brook Hard Way xxi. 111 The Star shop's job printers gained by emerging from tail-of-the-dog status in the shadow of the newspaper.
job printing n. Printing the printing of miscellaneous work, such as posters, leaflets, cards, etc.; cf. sense 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing specific type of work > [noun] > small or miscellaneous work
job work1798
job printing1817
job print1825
jobbing1841
1817 Times 29 May 1/3 (advt.) Business of a printer,..70 miles from London, where considerable business, particularly in the job printing, is carried on.
1892 A. Powell Southward's Pract. Printing (ed. 4) xxix. 266 Bookwork is almost always executed in black ink; while in job printing any colour is permissible.
1924 Southward's Mod. Printing (ed. 5) I. Job Design Suppl. 2 (following p. 336) Fine book and job printing a speciality.
1999 M. Pendergrast Uncommon Grounds i. iii. 52 The Arbuckles had purchased a printer to make their own labels and were also doing job printing for others.
job reservation n. South African (now historical) the setting aside by law of certain types of employment for particular ethnic groups, esp. the reservation of certain skilled jobs for white people.
ΚΠ
1957 Times 23 Jan. 8/5 The Coloured people to-day were a worried people... They were worried about job reservation on a racial basis, and the trade unions were split on a racial basis.
1999 P. Jooste Frieda & Min 175 No more detention without trial. Academic Freedom. Open Universities. Abolish Job Reservation.
job shadowing n. = work shadowing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > career > [noun] > training or preparation schemes
work–study1924
work experience1967
exposure1968
shadowing1976
work shadowing1976
Youth Opportunities Programme1977
YOP1978
job shadowing1979
Youth Training Scheme1981
YTS1984
new deal1995
1979 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 23 Nov. w58/1 The job-shadowing program was run for the first time at the school last year from January to June.
2002 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 10 Nov. xvii. 1/3 The university's partnership with the hospital offers undergraduates a health-sciences internship that provides more than mere observation and job shadowing.
job sheet n. (a) a document giving instructions for a particular job or task; (b) = job note n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > a business or company > [noun] > records, reports, or documents
bookc1405
memoir1571
transfer-book1694
order book1771
job note1803
log1861
deed of association1866
logbook1869
job sheet1919
kanban1977
1919 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 27 745 With a carefully prepared list of questions on the ‘job sheet’ in his hand, the student was supposed to find out for himself by actual work with his machine, or material, the correct answers.
1953 Eng. Jrnl. 42 452 The theory is that if each editor followed the instructions on his job sheet,..the staff could run itself.
1970 P. Laurie Scotl. Yard v. 116 The ambulance crew which we met on the way are in Sister's office drinking tea and filling out their job-sheets.
2003 C. E. Doyle Work & Organizational Psychol. v. 200 The maintenance crew went off duty, leaving two separate job sheets which do not appear to have been filed together.
job shop n. (a) a workshop where small pieces of work are done; (b) Printing = job office n.; (c) a place where a variety of available jobs are advertised.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > workshop > [noun] > other types of workshop
shopc1325
tavern1521
machine shop1827
fitting-shop1840
planing mill1844
body shop1845
job shop1851
farm shop1862
craft workshop1906
fixit shop1949
speed shop1954
chop shop1971
society > communication > printing > printing trade > [noun] > printing establishment > doing only job-work
job house1800
job office1803
job shop1963
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxxvi. 580 When I kept my job-shop in the Vineyard.
1922 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 101 181/1 Every small Kansas newspaper office has its job shop.
1963 Times 15 Feb. 7/1 The west coast and international editions of the New York Times are printed in ‘job shops’, commercial printing offices working on a contract basis.
1969 Times 29 Dec. 2/1 The number of the callers at the ‘job shop’ was five times the usual rate... The aim is to attract people who would not usually seek the help of an employment exchange.
2001 G. Conner Lean Manuf. for Small Shop v. 55 A job shop may not need the same tools applied at Honda or Harley Davidson.
job splitting n. the action or practice of dividing a job between two or more people (in quot. 1939 without official sanction); = job sharing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [noun] > work-sharing
work sharing1905
job sharing1932
job splitting1939
job-share1981
1939 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 18 Apr. 2 His proposal would protect them from possible legal action as a result of a John Doe investigation..into reports of assembly ‘job-splitting’.
1964 Times 26 Nov. 22/1 Every Ghanaian holding a senior staff appointment is trained for the job; there has been no artificial promotion or job-splitting.
1992 Financial Post (Canada) 13 Apr. s27/3 Work sharing, or job splitting, involves two persons sharing a single position.
2003 Irish Times (Nexis) 28 Feb. 58 This means introducing family-friendly work arrangements such as job-sharing, job-splitting, e-working and flexi-time.
job stream n. Computing a series of jobs awaiting processing.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > data > database > data entry > [noun] > processing > awaiting processing
job stream1966
1966 Computer Jrnl. 9 242-7 An approach to solving this problem is to develop a quick patch editing facility which can be used at any point in the job stream for debugging purposes.
2006 Computer Physics Communications 174 483 All calculations of FF→HA→BR on the SANC tree are realized in the same job stream.
job type n. Printing (now chiefly historical) type (of a special or ornamental kind) used in job printing; cf. job font n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > style of type > [noun] > type face or font > used in job-work
job type1855
1855 Monroe (Wisconsin) Sentinel 26 Sept. 2/5 Something like two months since, we ordered quite a lot of new job type—‘fonts’ that we stood in urgent need of.
1892 A. Powell Southward's Pract. Printing (ed. 4) viii. 53 Job types are laid in upper and lower cases, in double cases, or in half cases, according to the extent of the founts.
1929 E. W. Howe Plain People xv. 132 We had no job type at first: only that used on the newspaper.
2005 S. Beekman W. D. Pelley i. 6 He purchased a used hand press..and then contracted with his father to print up business cards for William G. A. in return for the money to buy a dozen fonts of job type.
job watch n. Nautical Obsolete a watch used in place of a chronometer when making observations; = hack watch (also chronometer) at hack n.2 7.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > watch > [noun] > particular types of watch
German watch1611
larum watch1619
clock-watch1625
minute watch1660
pendulum watch1664
watch1666
alarm watch1669
finger watch1679
string-watch1686
scout1688
balance-watch1690
hour-watch1697
warming-pan1699
minute pendulum watch1705
jewel watch1711
suit1718
repeater1725
Tompion1727
pendulum spring1728
second-watch1755
Geneva watch1756
cylinder-watch1765
watch-paper1777
ring watch1788
verge watch1792
watch lamp1823
hack1827
bull's-eye1833
vertical watch1838
quarter-repeater1840
turnip1840
hunting-watch1843
minute repeater1843
hunter1851
job watch1851
Geneva1852
watch-lining1856
touch watch1860
musical watch1864
lever1865
neep1866
verge1871
independent seconds watch1875
stem-winder1875
demi-hunter1884
fob-watch1884
three-quarter plate1884
wrist-watch1897
turnip-watch1898
sedan-chair watch1904
Rolex1922
Tank watch1923
strap watch1926
chatelaine watch1936
sedan clock1950
quartz watch1969
pulsar1970
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [noun] > watch used in taking observations
hack1827
job watch1851
1851 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 21 p. lxiv Ulterior improvement is wanting before the Aneroid can be trusted otherwise than as a journeyman to the Torricellian tube, in the manner of a job-watch to a box-chronometer.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Job-watch, or Hack-watch, for taking astronomical sights, which saves taking the chronometer on deck or on shore to note the time.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

jobn.3

Forms: 1500s iob, 1500s jobbe, 1500s 1700s jobb, 1600s job.
Origin: Of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Compare job n.2 and jobble n.1, jobbet n.In sense 1 the original meaning was perhaps ‘an amount the carrying of which constitutes a single job (i.e. task)’, in which case the word would apparently show a spec. use of job n.2 (compare job n.2 1a). However, if that were the case, it would not be easy to explain the semantic development apparently represented by sense 2, which suggests an underlying concrete sense, perhaps ‘piece’ or ‘mass’. The derivatives jobble n.1 and jobbet n. also suggest that in sense 1 the idea of a quantity moved or carried rather than the effort involved in doing so is dominant. Moreover, it is possible that job n.2 originally itself represents a spec. sense development of this word in the phrase job of work at job n.2 Phrases 1 (see discussion at that entry). The phrase is attested slightly earlier and, if that interpretation of the relationship between job n.2 and job n.3 were accepted, quot. 1557-8 at job n.2 1a would have to be regarded as the earliest attestation of the present word. A connection with gob n.1 has also been suggested but poses phonetic and semantic difficulties.
Obsolete.
1. A cartload; the amount that a horse and cart can bring at one time. Cf. jobble n.1, jobbet n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > a load as a quantity > cart- or wagon-load
cart-loada1300
cartful1399
wain-weight15..
job1560
wain1613
trollful1663
wainful1713
wagon-load1721
team1789
wagonful1846
1560 Stanford Churchwardens' Accts. in Antiquary (1888) Apr. 168 For faching a Jobbe of thorns and mending the hedges aboute the churche howsse xd.
1571 Stanford Churchwardens' Accts. in Antiquary (1888) Apr. 170 For iij Jobbs of Strawe and the Caryage vijs. iiijd.
1771 G. White Jrnl. 4 July (1970) iv. 41 Ricked 6 jobbs of meadow hay in curious..order.
2.
a. A stump, a block.
ΚΠ
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xii. 210 Sometymes [God] letteth vs goe alone by our selues..and then stumble we at the next iob that we meete with.
b. A tassel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > ornamental textiles > ornamental trimmings > [noun] > tassel
tasselc1400
tarsel1459
tag1570
tasse1570
job1659
fiocco1694
1659 W. Smith Reign Whore Discovered 11 Why must you have a soft Cushion with silken Jobs at the corners to lean on?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

jobn.4

Brit. /dʒɒb/, U.S. /dʒɑb/
Forms: 1500s–1600s iob, 1500s–1600s iobbe, 1600s 1800s– job.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: job v.1
Etymology: < job v.1 Compare slightly earlier jobbing n.1
Now rare.
An abrupt stab with the point or end of something; a peck, a thrust, a jab. Also: a jerk or wrench of the bit in a horse's mouth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > sudden movement > [noun] > jerking > a jerk
spang1513
lipe1545
job1560
jert1568
abraid1570
jerk1575
flirta1592
yark1610
slip1615
flerka1653
hitch1674
toss1676
hotch1721
saccade1728
surge1748
flip1821
snatch1822
fling1826
kick1835
chuckc1843
jolt1849
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > [noun] > striking with pushing action > a thrusting blow
sparc1540
job1560
push1563
thrusta1586
poss1611
jub1688
peg1728
jab1825
stab1902
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cccxxxix Nicholas Quercey toke the with his wife..and gaue the a iobbe with hys Dagger.
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie ciii. 635 A iob with his beake is not so great a matter.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 198 With his contrarie spurre to giue him a good stroake or Iobbe to bring him with spirit againe into the managing path.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Vn rabat de bride, a iob, or checke which a horse giues himselfe with his bridle.
1885 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Apr. 505 It requires a good job to drive the point of a large hook in beyond the barb.
a1902 J. P. Kirk in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1902) III. 371/1 [S. Nottinghamshire] Gie 'im a job in the jaw if 'e wain't shut up.

Compounds

jobnut n. Obsolete (the name of) a game in which hazelnuts are perforated and strung through, in order to be knocked against each other (cf. cob-nut n. 2 and conker n. a).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > conkers, etc.
cob-nutc1440
jobnut1659
conquering1821
conkers1877
1659 Lady Alimony ii. v. sig. D2v All his games..Are yert-point, nine pins, job-nut, or span counter.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

jobv.1

Brit. /dʒɒb/, U.S. /dʒɑb/
Forms: late Middle English–1600s iobbe, 1500s iob, 1500s iobbying (present participle), 1600s–1700s jobb, 1600s– job, 1800s– jub (English regional (Cumberland)). See also jab v.
Origin: Apparently an imitative or expressive formation.
Etymology: Apparently imitative of the sound or effect of a stab or prod. Compare bob v.2, cob v.1, and jog v.
1. intransitive. Of a bird: to peck. More generally: to penetrate into, to stab, pierce, or prod at. Now regional and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (intransitive)] > peck
billc1220
beak?c1225
pecka1398
joba1500
neba1819
peggle1854
stock1893
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > strike in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > strike with pushing action
stokea1400
thrustc1410
joba1500
stab1513
rasha1522
purr1564
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > make (an opening or hole) [verb (transitive)] > make an opening or hole in or into > bore, pierce, or perforate > with something sharp-pointed
shearOE
sting993
stickOE
spita1225
wound?c1225
stitchc1230
pitcha1275
threstc1275
forprick1297
steekc1300
piercec1325
rivec1330
dag?a1400
jag?a1400
lancec1400
pickc1400
tamec1400
forpierce1413
punch1440
launch1460
thringc1485
empiercec1487
to-pierce1488
joba1500
ding1529
stob?1530
probe1542
enthrill1563
inthirlc1580
cloy1590
burt1597
pink1597
lancinate1603
perterebrate1623
puncture1675
spike1687
skiver1832
bepierce1840
gimlet1841
prong1848
javelin1859
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > make (an opening or hole) [verb (transitive)] > make an opening or hole in or into > bore, pierce, or perforate > with something sharp-pointed > prick
prickOE
pointa1425
joba1500
birlc1540
punct1548
nib1558
pounce1570
punge1570
stab1570
reprick1611
jaga1700
barb1803
jab1825
rowel1891
pinprick1909
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come into [verb (transitive)] > penetrate
thirlc1175
delve?c1225
piercec1325
entera1500
penetrate1530
search1594
job1603
breaka1616
a1500 Promptorium Parvulorum (King's Cambr.) 36 Byllen or iobbyn as bryddys [a1500 BL Add. 37789, 1499 Pynson iobbyn with the byl], rostro.
1566 Drury Let. to Cecil 27 Mar. (P.R.O.: State Pap. Dom., Borders) II. f. 131/2 In Iobbying att hym [sc. Rizzio] so meny att onse.
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) xiii. 167 With theyr billes and hooked talents..They neuer ceased iobbing eche vppon the others brest.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 588 Apon that palme tree sate certaine crowes many dayes..and neuer left pecking and iobbing at the frute of it.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Rom. Quest. (1892) 33 After he [sc. the woodpecker] hath jobbed and pecked into it [sc. the oak] as farre as to the very marrow and heart thereof.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. x. 177 The Tool will job into softer parts of the Stuff.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cxciii. 163 As an Ass with a Gall'd Back was Feeding in a Meadow, a Raven Pitch'd upon him, and there Sate, Jobbing of the Sore.
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 187 Fowls, or birds job at any thing hard.
1855 Rep. Supreme Court Georgia 18 201 Reese was jobbing at the window, demanding admittance.
1882 A. Jessopp in 19th Cent. Nov. 733 Pigmies of the Meiocene..jobbing at the eyes of some mammoth floundering in a hole.
1902 W. R. Eaton in Eng. Dial. Dict. III. 371/1 Don't yow keep a jobbing into me with yaur stick.
2.
a. transitive. To pierce or poke (a person or thing) with a brief, forceful action, usually with the end or point of something; to stab, peck, prod, or jab.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > strike in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > strike with pushing action > poke or prod
prokec1225
pokec1330
punchc1384
pinga1400
purrc1450
brod1483
rowc1500
dub1513
pod1530
prod1535
job1560
poy1562
pounce1577
poach1632
pote1714
potter1747
poker1774
nug1866
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxxx Then caught he a boore speare..and as he laie iobbed him in with the staffe heade [L. iacentem pila transverberat].
?1562 Thersytes sig. D.iv Jynkyn Jacon that iobbed iolye Jone.
1606 S. Gardiner Doomes-day Bk. 98 Some [Christians] have been boared with Aules: some punched & iobbed with bodkins.
1679 R. L'Estrange Hist. Plot 25 Two Sentinels..who, when-ever he began to slumber job'd him with those Iron pricks.
1728 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 2) 157 Take your Apricocks,..with a small clean Bodkin,..job them sometimes that the Syrup may penetrate into them.
1844 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit xxxiii. 390 He had ‘jobbed out’ the eye of one gentleman.
1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth I. xxiv. 295 He..drew his long knife, and..prepared to job the huge brute as soon as it should mount within reach.
1933 J. Masefield Bird of Dawning 34 Get two of those big colza-oil-cans and job two holes in their bottoms.
1997 J. Daugharty Earl in Yellow Shirt 39 My backend throbs from where the top of the post is jobbing me.
b. transitive. To jerk (a horse's mouth) with a bit. Also with horse as object. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1759 T. Wallis Farrier's & Horseman's Compl. Dict. at Horse-Racing Beware of holding yourself by the bridle, or of jobbing your horse's mouth upon any occasion.
1880 S. Baring-Gould Mehalah I. v. 87 Let the horse go, but don't job his mouth in that way.
1932 J. E. Hance School for Horse & Rider 44 Avoid ‘jobbing’ the horse on the mouth unnecessarily.
c. transitive. To punch (a person) with a quick, sharp blow; = jab v. d. Now Australian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > strike with specific thing [verb (transitive)] > with the hand > with the fist > stabbing
job1812
jab1901
1812 Pancratia ii. 266 Mendoza jobbed his opponent in the throat, who fell, evincing great weakness.
1861 Sporting Mag. Mar. 157 Bos got Harry..under his arm, and playfully jobbed his nose.
1900 H. Lawson Andy Page's Rival in Prose I. 362 I'll job him for you if I catch him!
1977 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 25 July 1/4 (headline) Australian cricket vice-captain..threatened to ‘job’ Australian tour manager.
2002 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 20 Oct. 88 Julie..jobbed him. Knocked him right out, too.
3. transitive. To thrust (something) abruptly into something else.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > push > cause to penetrate by pushing
thrusta1400
runc1485
job1573
sock1843
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 37 If peacocke & turkey, leaue iobbing their becks.
1674 J. Josselyn Acct. Two Voy. 186 Two crooked bones growing upon the top of the heart, which as she bowed her body..would job their points into one and the same place.
1697 C. K. Art's Master-piece 80 With this mixture white your Wood or Frame, striking or jobbing your Brush against it.
1736 Compl. Family-piece iii. 443 Immediately jobb a Penknife into the Throat.
1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins II. xix. 245 He slackned just to job up his Head in his Antagonist's Stomach.
1844 J. H. Stocqueler Hand-bk. India 550 In some parts of India our sportsmen throw the spear—in others they thrust or job it.
1866 in C. E. Smith Diary (1922) 37 They are always ranging and searching about for whales, and swim under a whale and ‘job’ this sword into it's [sic] belly.
a1922 H. Lawson Best Stories (1966) 16 A friend..[was] jobbing his left thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the bar.
1947 Peabody Jrnl. Educ. 25 157 I took a pitch fork and jobbed it through each one.
1997 T. Pynchon Mason & Dixon 583 ‘If you dare to leave your lawful wife, tonight or ever, this’ waving the Fork, ‘gets jobb'd in your Guts, are we in Agreement’?

Phrases

to job faces: to kiss. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1599 T. Heywood 1st Pt. King Edward IV sig. E3 What the dickens is it loue that makes ye prate to me so fondly, by my fathers soule I would I had iobd faces with you.
a1795 Robin Hood & Maid Marian xiv, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. cl. 219/2 With kind embraces, and jobbing of faces.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

jobv.2

Brit. /dʒɒb/, U.S. /dʒɑb/
Forms: 1600s– job, 1700s jobb.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: job n.2
Etymology: < job n.2 In sense 2 after jobber n.2 or jobbing n.2 With sense 2c compare earlier job lot n.
1.
a. transitive. To do (a job or task). Chiefly in that job's jobbed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > completed or finished [phrase] > the task is finished
that job's jobbed1647
mission accomplished1915
1647 Mercurius Pragmaticus No. 4 sig. D1v Were it not done like honest men,..rather then to be hackney'd every day by Troopers (like the patient City) and job Journey-work at voting for other mens ends?
1763 Butiad 19 Jobs must be jobbed ere Friday noon, Therefore be sure to meet me soon.
1820 T. E. Hook Exchange no Robbery i. i. 4 Put yourself under my guidance, and the job's jobbed.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xix. 139 That job's jobbed, as the saying is.
1847 T. De Quincey Secret Societies in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 515/1 ‘Then’, said Pyrrhus, ‘next we go for Macedon; and after that job's jobbed, next, of course, for Greece’.
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) To job work.
1922 M. Webb Seven for Secret v. 59That job's jobbed,’ he reflected.
2007 N.Y. Observer (Nexis) 14 Jan. (Sport section) 21 It was a moment's work to pour them into an urn... Job jobbed.
b. intransitive. To do odd jobs or pieces of work; to do piecework. Also with around, about.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > do odd jobs
job1681
pouter1825
hob-job1873
odd-job1944
1681 W. Dugdale Short View Late Troubles xliii. 571 The late Parliament, they set their hands to the work, then they job'd on again; did a little and then stood still again.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. iv. Prol. By his Hatchet he earn'd many a fair Penny of the..Log-Merchants, among whom he went a Jobbing.
1732 J. Mitchell Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) I. 178 Destin'd to suffer Pennance for my Crimes, By Jobbing only thro' a Maze of Rhimes.
1780 Proc. King’s Comm. Peace v. ii. 310/1 Has he ever jobbed for you?—He lived with me about fifteen years ago.
c1820 M. M. Sherwood Penny Tract 7 in Houlston Tracts Cutting fruit-trees, and jobbing about in different gardens.
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 873 He had worked..in Islington, and still jobbed about.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan in Poet. Wks. (1902) 442 He..Contracted, too, for railways; a smart fellow, Jobbing at everything, and everything Brought money to him.
1939 B. Goodman & I. Kolodin Kingdom of Swing 35 I jobbed around with ‘Murph’ quite a bit after that, playing whatever dates there were.
1968 Rev. Eng. Stud. 18 70 Massinger and Fletcher were an odd pair to drive in tandem... Yet the two jobbed together in harness for many years.
1996 Q Jan. 120/5 Too short and follically underblessed to ever carve out a superstar niche for himself..Paul Carrack has jobbed stoically since the break-up of Ace.
2.
a. transitive. Stock Market. To buy and sell (stocks) as a jobber (jobber n.2 1) (now historical); (more generally) to deal or speculate (in stocks).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > [verb (transitive)]
monga1250
corsec1440
coss14..
merchant1511
chafferc1535
merchandise1538
mart1589
trade1589
broke1598
factor1611
handle1638
commercea1641
chop1645
chaffera1657
job1701
truck1715
to turn in1822
monger1928
society > trade and finance > brokerage > arrange or negotiate as a broker [verb (transitive)]
broker1638
job1701
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (transitive)] > deal with as stock-jobber
stock-job1697
job1701
1701 D. Defoe Villainy of Stockjobbers 17 Jobbing their Stocks about, raising and sinking them at the Pleasure of Parties and private Interests, is..prejudicial.
1711 J. Dennis Ess. Publick Spirit 29 Stocks are jobb'd by People in the City, who have no real Stock but their Impudence.
a1865 T. Garland Memorials, Literary & Relig. (1868) xiv. 271 Their only object is to secure a good allotment of shares, to be jobbed in the market as soon as the gullibility of the public brings them to a premium.
1900 Living Age 6 Jan. 14/2 If..capital were..abolished tomorrow, people would still be found digging the earth and milking cows, though they might not be promoting companies and jobbing shares.
1973 Times 20 Sept. 22/1 Australian mining shares..are now jobbed in London by four Stock Exchange firms.
2000 Express (Nexis) 21 Apr. The London Stock Exchange dumped almost 200 years of history yesterday by appointing as its new chief a man who has never brokered a stock or jobbed a share in his 57 years.
b. intransitive. Stock Market. To buy and sell stocks as a jobber (jobber n.2 1) (now historical); (more generally) to deal or speculate in stocks. Frequently with in.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (intransitive)]
job1721
stock-job1721
operate1859
1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius No. 13 (recto single sheet) Those persons, who could not raise money enough..jobb'd in these little bubbles.
1781 J. O. Justamond tr. B.-F.-J. Mouffle d'Angerville Private Life Lewis XV I. 84 This Nobleman had jobbed to advantage in the Quincampoix- street.
1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 116 If he has lost..certain sums..in..jobbing in the funds.
1890 Spectator 15 Nov. The Bourses of the world have begun to job in currency.
1952 Econ. Hist. Rev 4 295 Men like Robert Woolley,..and John Bull, who bought and sold stocks with remarkable freedom, were merchants and brokers who jobbed as a sideline.
1989 Money & Family Wealth Mar. 21/2 Advice on the privatisation stocks... If you have small holdings it is simply not worth jobbing in and out because of the high dealing costs on small bargains.
2004 Evening Standard (Nexis) 20 May 36 Traders can still make money in volatile markets by jobbing in and out of stocks, but everyone suffers when the situation becomes illiquid.
c. transitive. To buy and sell (goods) as a middleman; to buy from one person and sell to another at a profit. to job off: to sell at very low prices.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (transitive)] > sell at low price
undersell1647
discount1828
slaughter1896
to job off1903
1855 Times 21 May 7/5 Circular and Sutton goods..must now advance with the raw material, some of those who have jobbed their stocks off recklessly having failed.
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) To job goods.
1890 W. Whitman in Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Aug. 7/2 The Essays are..jobb'd here by Scribners, New York.
1903 Lett. that bring Business 68 We have had some very unpleasant experiences in the past through our goods being held on consignment for months, and then jobbed off at suicidal prices.
1939 Fed. Trade Comm. Decisions 26 317 Where..jobbing services are rendered..nothing herein contained shall preclude jobber prices on that portion which is jobbed.
1955 Times 22 Aug. 7/6 Hard decisions are being taken about jobbing off as cattle fodder a million tons of surplus rice.
1996 Frontiers 22 23 Schweizer, a German immigrant,..had jobbed silver and turquoise to Navajo silversmiths.
3.
a. transitive. To deal with or use (something) corruptly or unscrupulously for personal gain or political advantage.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > [verb (transitive)] > sacrifice public interest in
job1709
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or engage (a person) [verb (transitive)] > conduct (an affair) > deal with (a matter)
takec1175
speedc1374
handc1440
to deal with1469
deduce1528
deal1586
wield1595
cope with1641
tractate1657
handlea1774
job1825
absorb1826
address1838
1709 R. Gould Wks. I. 364 Not an Election in the Burrough's made..Without th'Attorney's being trebly paid: Jobbing their Votes, he for few Guineas buys; But who he sells to, must to Hundreds rise.
1825 W. Scott Let. 25 Aug. (1935) IX. 210 The lower classes are restraind..by a very strict police... These are taken from under the authority of the local magistrates who seem to have jobbd the matter sadly.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) 133/2 This monarch [sc. Napoleon] had an army in full force because he had jobbed to himself Poland, and was determined to keep it.
1881 R. D. Blackmore Christowell (1882) ix He meant to do his duty to his own kin, instead of founding charities to be jobbed by aliens.
1889 Spectator 28 Sept. They would regard this power as certain to be jobbed, and will accordingly never give it.
1908 W. P. Ward Ten Personal Stud. ii. 55 He just wanted to job the paper for his own purposes.
1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows xvi.218 The accusation that the last result had been jobbed began to reverberate through the Constituencies.
b. transitive. To get (a person) into a position corruptly or unscrupulously; to give (a position, public resource, etc.) away in this way.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [verb (transitive)] > appoint to an office or position > by jobbery
job1720
1720 A. Ramsay Wealth (new ed.) 4 How..these..Have jobb'd themsells into sae high a State.
1740 P. Skelton Necess. Tillage 41 If these funds cou'd be raised by either of these means, yet the whole benefit intended, wou'd be jobbed away into private hands.
a1797 E. Burke Let. in Wks. (1857) IX. 529 I took the liberty..to caution him against jobbing away the two offices which he held.
1849 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 16 141/2 The Colonial Office had all but jobbed away Vancouver's Island.
1864 G. A. Sala in Daily Tel. 30 Sept. 5/4 The nominee may have been jobbed into the place to serve some dirty purpose.
1899 Daily News 20 July 7/2 [He] was then jobbed into the post of director of the deaf and dumb asylum.
1911 J. H. Rose William Pitt & National Revival vi. 144 He further proposed to..abolish the holding of monopolies, such as that for opium, which had been jobbed away to the son of a former chairman of the Company.
1944 Eng. Hist. Rev. 59 133 By eleventh-century standards, he was old enough to be jobbed into a bishopric in 1049.
1998 Guardian 5 Sept. (Saturday section) 10/2 Osbert thereafter managed to fail the entrance exam to Sandhurst (not an easy thing for an intelligent man to do), and so had to be jobbed into the Brigade of Guards.
c. intransitive. To turn a public office or a position of trust to personal gain or political advantage; to practise jobbery. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > business affairs > [verb (intransitive)] > sacrifice public interest
job1733
1733 A. Pope Of Use of Riches 8 Statesman and Patriot ply alike the Stocks,..The Judge shall job, the Bishop bite the Town.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 20 Jan. (1939) 74 I daresay he jobs, as all other people of consequence do, in elections, and so forth.
1844 P. Harwood Hist. Irish Rebellion 47 (note) He found it necessary to bribe and job on a larger scale than the boldest of his predecessors.
1869 Spectator 17 Apr. 469/2 If left unfettered he would job.
1900 Daily News 26 Oct. 4/4 This time, the Lord Chancellor has resisted the temptation to job.
4. transitive. To let or deal out (an asset or commodity) for profit. Also in extended use. Usually with out, away.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > hiring or letting out > hire or rent out [verb (transitive)]
let909
hirec1384
rentc1447
to let out1526
locatec1580
wage1590
to farm outa1593
hackney1608
to set out1614
ablocate1623
job1726
to hire out1776
to set off1799
1726 in Swift's Corr. in Wks. (1841) II. 583 Your interest with me..procured Dr. Ellwood the use of that chamber, not the power to job it.
1812 W. Scott Let. 4 June (1932) III. 125 The clergy..have a strange disposition to job away among themselves the rewards of literature.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. ii. iii. 158 These old ruins are my property, and are not to be jobbed out to the insolence of public curiosity.
1903 School Rev. 11 296 I figured out that any fellow who had such a heavy stock of information on hand, ought to be able to job it out to good advantage.
1992 A. Kurzweil Case of Curiosities xxx. 193 Sieur Curtius, a German showman who operated a successful waxworks..had jobbed out parts of his minor displays to the Venetian.
5. transitive. To hire (a horse, carriage, etc.) for a particular job, or for a limited time. Also: to let out on hire. Also with it or intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > hiring or renting > hire [verb (transitive)]
hirec1275
conduct1476
conduce1502
job1758
1758 Chiron II. vii. 105 He jobbed a pair of horses now and then, and so became at once a man of fashion.
1786 J. Wolcot Birthday Ode xliv Whitbread, d'ye keep a coach, or job one, pray? Job, job, that's cheapest; yes, that's best, that's best.
1829 T. Hood Epping Hunt xxxi Some had horses of their own, And some were forced to job it.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair xlviii. 433 She went to the livery-man from whom she jobbed her carriages.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 358/1 The masters of whom I have spoken will job a carriage duly emblazoned..with the proper armorial bearings..and job coachmen and grooms as well.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 358/1 Very few noblemen at present bring their carriage-horses to town,..they nearly all job, as it is invariably called.
1909 Times 17 Nov. 9/1 A breakdown of the car..leaves you without a vehicle and compelled to hire another or to job a horse and carriage at considerable cost.
1988 A. R. Wagner Herald's World i. 5 We were transported..in an open topped horse omnibus which my father had bought and kept at Tillings in the Cromwell Road from whom he had jobbed the driver.
6. transitive. To let out (a large piece of work) in separate portions to different contractors or workmen. Also in extended use. Frequently with out.
ΚΠ
1853 Rep. Supreme Court Vermont 24 299 The plaintiff certainly was not bound to job the work and it does not appear, that if he had hired it done by others, it would finally have cost less.
1883 N. Amer. Rev. Aug. 101 A child cannot be cut up into bits and jobbed-out to different specialists.
1962 Jrnl. Amer. Musicol. Soc. 15 35 He seems to have ‘jobbed’ much of his work out to other printers.
1999 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) May 124/1 A publisher who knew the market might have jobbed out the work to factories in Asia.
7. transitive. With off: = to fob off at fob v.1 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > evade [verb (transitive)] > put off
pop1530
to put off1569
to fode forth (also occasionally forward, off, on, out)1591
to shift offc1592
foist1598
to fob off1600
fub1600
to shuffle off1604
doffa1616
jig1633
to trump upa1640
whiffle1654
to fool off1664
sham1682
drill1752
to set off1768
to put by1779
jilt1782
palm1822
stall1829
job1872
to give (a person) the go-around1925
1872 Harper's Mag. Jan. 319/2 A sheriff once told a judge that they had been ‘often jobbed off with sergeants instead of judges in those parts, and was he really a bona fide judge?’
1876 J. Weiss Wit, Humor, & Shakespeare xi. 379 When you try jauntily to job off suspicion before other persons, the cheek grows pale with dread of being contradicted.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Aug. 6/1 The policy of Scotland-yard, he said, was to ‘job off’ complaints made against the police.
1927 R. Graves Lars Porsena 51 Any schoolboy who will send five shillings and a statement that he is not a minor: only to job him off with badly printed photographs of classical paintings and statuary.
8. transitive. slang (originally U.S.). To cheat, betray; spec. to frame.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > charge, accuse, or indict [verb (transitive)] > frame
fita1625
job1889
frame1912
bum-rap1947
to stitch up1970
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > collusion, intrigue > conspire against [verb (transitive)] > attempt to implicate
job1889
frame1912
to set up1950
1889 Sporting News 23 Mar. 2/2 The rest of the [base]ball players not only cut him in a social way, but most of them endeavor to ‘job him’ out of the business.
1904 McClure's Mag. Nov. 64/1 Now she was coming back, swearing she'd been ‘jobbed’, the judge had been bought, and the jury corrupted.
1926 J. Black You can't Win xxiii. 366 I was in the district attorney's office..and I know you got ‘jobbed’. I'll take your case for nothing.
1972 C. Drummond Death at Bar v. 110 Funny you not minding Alwyn jobbin' your mum, not to mention your lawful wedded hubby.
1973 K. Giles File on Death ii. 28 You want to watch or they'll job you on that.
2001 W. Deverell Laughing Falcon x. v. 317 Then, as the ramifications began to hit home, he cried out, ‘Jesus wept! We've been jobbed!’

Phrases

to job backwards: to consider an action or decision retrospectively; esp. (on the Stock Exchange) to reconsider past transactions with the benefit of hindsight.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retrospection, reminiscence > look back, retrospect [verb (intransitive)]
to look backward?c1450
to look back1529
to look backwards1598
recoila1616
retrospect1664
run1692
revert1820
reverie1832
to think back (on or to)1901
to job backwards1907
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (intransitive)] > specific operations
soften1565
to get out1728
bear1837
to rig the (stock) market1841
stag1845
cornera1860
to straddle the market1870
raid1889
to make a market1899
to job backwards1907
to mark to (the) market1925
short1959
daisy-chain1979
to pitch for ——1983
1907 Times 12 Feb. 14/3 It was easy to ‘job backwards’ and criticize after events.
1919 D. Lloyd George Let. 8 July in A. J. P. Taylor My Darling Pussy (1975) 27 The election was muddled but it is no use jobbing backwards.
1931 Economist 21 Mar. 621/1 Calculations based on ‘jobbing backwards’ on a Fixed Trust holding are altogether illusive.
1959 Times 4 Sept. 11/4 Did he [sc. the Prime Minister] not actually say ‘We never job backwards’? This is a Stock Market term meaning, in this context, ‘We let bygones be bygones.’
1968 J. M. Ziman Public Knowl. iii. 31 All too often it becomes an exercise in ‘jobbing backwards’: it tells us how we ought to have derived our result if only we had known the answer before we began.
1982 Financial Times (Nexis) 13 Apr. 17 It is easy to job backwards and to show the benefit that would have been obtained by keeping in the right market and the right group over the 20-year period.
2006 Field July 18/2 If you were setting out from scratch..you wouldn't start from here. But as they say in the City, ‘you can't job backwards’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

jobv.3

Forms: 1600s–1800s jobe, 1700s joab, 1700s–1800s job.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: Job n.1
Etymology: < Job n.1, in allusion to the lengthy reproofs addressed to Job by his friends in the book of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures that bears his name. N.E.D. (1901) gives the pronunciation as (dʒōub) /dʒəʊb/.
Perhaps originally Cambridge University slang. Obsolete.
transitive. To rebuke, reprove, or reprimand in a long and tedious harangue; = lecture v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > rebuke or reprove [verb (transitive)] > at length
job1666
lecture1706
1666 G. Torriano Proverbial Phrases 325/2 in Piazza Universale Here are Fathers who will over-hear us, and Jobe us.
1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 207 In the University of Cambridge, the young scholars are wont to call chiding Jobing.
1683 J. Bramston Autobiogr. 205 The Kinge had talked earnestly to the Duke and jobed him (that was the word) soe that the teares stood in his eyes.
1709 Tatler No. 71. ⁋8 What bright Man says, I was Joab'd by the Dean.
1721–2 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (1726) xxxiii. 178 A former president of St. John's college..would frequently Job his students for going constantly three or four times a day to chapel.
1794 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 1085 In consequence of an intimation from the tutor relative to his irregularities, his own father came from the country to jobe him.
1802 T. Twining Let. 11 May (1991) II. 609 If I have done wrong, job me, & I will do it no more.
1843 T. C. Haliburton Attaché II. xii. 238 What have I done to be jobed, that way?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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