job

Etymology

From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”). More at gob, jab, chop. Folk etymology linked the word to Job, the biblical character who suffered many misfortunes; for semantic development of misery and labor, compare Vulgar Latin *tripaliāre (“torture”) and its Romance descendants like Spanish trabajar and French travailler (whence English travail).

noun

1. A task.
   I've got a job for you - could you wash the dishes?
   And it's my job to take care of the skanks on the road that you bang. 1996, Cameron Crowe, Jerry Maguire
2. An economic role for which a person is paid.
   That surgeon has a great job.
   He's been out of a job since being made redundant in January.
   I was looking for a job and then I found a job / And heaven knows I'm miserable now 1984, Johnny Marr & Morrissey (lyrics and music), “Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now”, in Hatful of Hollow, performed by The Smiths
   Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector. 2013-08-10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
   Here I am at my new job! Audio (US) (file) 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
3. (in noun compounds) Plastic surgery.
   He had a nose job.
4. (in noun compounds) A sex act.
   hand job
5. (computing) A task, or series of tasks, carried out in batch mode (especially on a mainframe computer).
6. A sudden thrust or stab; a jab.
7. A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
8. (informal) A robbery or heist.
   a bank job
   This freak Vernon got the intelligence on the safe job and passed it on to some other freak, a guy that hears voices in his head and talks back to them. […] We don't think [Vernon's squeeze] is in on the heist, but she apparently is in love with this creep who is laying the pipe in her trough! 2010, J. Lamar, Honor, Deception and Justice, page 53
9. Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately.
10. (colloquial) A thing or whatsit (often used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one cannot recall).
    Pass me that little job with the screw thread on it.
    One of them was about nine years ago when I stood in white tie and tails beside a little blonde job (laughter and applause) down in front of the First Methodist Church of Birmingham, […] 1936, Proceedings of the annual meeting of the American Warehousemen's Association, volume 45, page 376
11. (UK, slang, law enforcement) The police as a profession, act of policing, or an individual police officer.
    He was ex-job, Beavis. Detective sergeant out of County, Banbury, retired in ‘59. 2018-02-11, Colin Dexter, Russell Lewis, 14:17 from the start, in Endeavour(Cartouche), season 5, episode 2 (TV series), spoken by DS Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans)
    But there it was on the screen: The personal details of his old colleague from Kennington station in the late nineties.[…]She’s job. We used to work together. 2018-07-24, Chris Merritt, Last Witness:A Gripping Crime Thriller You Won’t Be Able To Put Down
    I’m job, D.S Townsend. I have to report a missing person. 2022-02-09, Daragh Carville, Richard Clark, Furquan Akhtar, 01:33 from the start, in The Bay, season 3, episode 5, spoken by D.S Jenn Townsend (Marsha Thomason)

verb

1. (intransitive) To do odd jobs or occasional work for hire.
   Authors of all work, to job for the season. a. 1852, Thomas Moore, Literary Advertisement
2. (intransitive) To work as a jobber.
3. (intransitive, professional wrestling slang) To take the loss.
4. (transitive, trading) To buy and sell for profit, as securities; to speculate in.
5. (transitive, often with out) To subcontract a project or delivery in small portions to a number of contractors.
   We wanted to sell a turnkey plant, but they jobbed out the contract to small firms.
6. (intransitive) To seek private gain under pretence of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage.
   And judges job, and bishops bite the town. 1733, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst
7. To strike or stab with a pointed instrument.
8. To thrust in, as a pointed instrument.
9. To hire or let in periods of service.
   to job a carriage