"jack-in-the-box" meaning in English

See jack-in-the-box in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: jacks-in-boxes [plural], jacks-in-the-boxes [plural], jack-in-the-boxes [plural], jacks-in-the-box [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|jacks-in-boxes|jacks-in-the-boxes|+|jacks-in-the-box}} jack-in-the-box (plural jacks-in-boxes or jacks-in-the-boxes or jack-in-the-boxes or jacks-in-the-box)
  1. Children’s toy consisting of a small box from which a male figure pops out unexpectedly after some turnings of a crank. Categories (topical): Toys Translations (child’s toy): 玩偶匣 (Chinese Mandarin), 惊吓盒 (Chinese Mandarin), trold i æske [common-gender] (Danish), vieteriukko (Finnish), diable en boîte [masculine] (French), ყუთი გამომხტომი ფიგურით (q̇uti gamomxṭomi pigurit) (Georgian), Schachtelteufel [masculine] (German), Springteufel [masculine] (German), びっくり箱 (bikkuribako) (Japanese), чёртик из коро́бочки (čórtik iz koróbočki) [masculine] (Russian), чёрт из табаке́рки (čort iz tabakérki) [masculine] (Russian), caja de sorpresa [feminine] (Spanish), caja sorpresa de jack (Spanish), gubben i lådan [common-gender] (Swedish), jac-yn-y-bocs [masculine] (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-jack-in-the-box-en-noun-TOd3EF63 Disambiguation of Toys: 62 17 21 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Georgian translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Welsh translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 16 35 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 45 14 41 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 17 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 54 14 32 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 57 16 28 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 57 15 27 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 58 17 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Georgian translations: 54 14 32 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 56 17 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 59 15 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 59 16 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 59 15 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 61 14 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 58 15 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Welsh translations: 58 17 25 Disambiguation of 'child’s toy': 100 0 0
  2. (historical) A small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes. Tags: historical
    Sense id: en-jack-in-the-box-en-noun-9aw1p7Tr Categories (other): Entries with translation boxes Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 45 14 41
  3. (obsolete) A con-man who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money. Tags: obsolete
    Sense id: en-jack-in-the-box-en-noun-vA31pqAM Categories (other): Entries with translation boxes Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 45 14 41
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: jack-in-the-box effect Related terms: Jack o’ the clock

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "jack-in-the-box effect"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "jacks-in-boxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jacks-in-the-boxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jack-in-the-boxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jacks-in-the-box",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "jacks-in-boxes",
        "2": "jacks-in-the-boxes",
        "3": "+",
        "4": "jacks-in-the-box"
      },
      "expansion": "jack-in-the-box (plural jacks-in-boxes or jacks-in-the-boxes or jack-in-the-boxes or jacks-in-the-box)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "Jack o’ the clock"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "49 16 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 14 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 17 32",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 14 32",
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "57 16 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Danish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "57 15 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 14 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Georgian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "56 17 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 15 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 16 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 15 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "61 14 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 15 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 17 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Welsh translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "62 17 21",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Toys",
          "orig": "en:Toys",
          "parents": [
            "Recreation",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:",
          "text": "\"Did you venture to call me a liar?\" (\"No, sir, no!\" shouted the accused, and disappeared like a Jack-in-the-box.)",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Children’s toy consisting of a small box from which a male figure pops out unexpectedly after some turnings of a crank."
      ],
      "id": "en-jack-in-the-box-en-noun-TOd3EF63",
      "links": [
        [
          "toy",
          "toy"
        ],
        [
          "figure",
          "figure"
        ],
        [
          "pops out",
          "pop out"
        ],
        [
          "crank",
          "crank"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "word": "玩偶匣"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "word": "惊吓盒"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "trold i æske"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "word": "vieteriukko"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "diable en boîte"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "q̇uti gamomxṭomi pigurit",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "word": "ყუთი გამომხტომი ფიგურით"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Schachtelteufel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Springteufel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "bikkuribako",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "word": "びっくり箱"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "čórtik iz koróbočki",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "чёртик из коро́бочки"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "čort iz tabakérki",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "чёрт из табаке́рки"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "caja de sorpresa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "word": "caja sorpresa de jack"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "gubben i lådan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "child’s toy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "jac-yn-y-bocs"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "45 14 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Donald Thomas, The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes:",
          "text": "It was possible, from underneath, to use the old jack-in-the-box safe-breaker's tool which lay in his gasman's bag.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes."
      ],
      "id": "en-jack-in-the-box-en-noun-9aw1p7Tr",
      "links": [
        [
          "screw",
          "screw"
        ],
        [
          "burglar",
          "burglar"
        ],
        [
          "safe",
          "safe"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "45 14 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A con-man who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money."
      ],
      "id": "en-jack-in-the-box-en-noun-vA31pqAM",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A con-man who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "jack-in-the-box"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Georgian translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Welsh translations",
    "en:Toys"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "jack-in-the-box effect"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "jacks-in-boxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jacks-in-the-boxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jack-in-the-boxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "jacks-in-the-box",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "jacks-in-boxes",
        "2": "jacks-in-the-boxes",
        "3": "+",
        "4": "jacks-in-the-box"
      },
      "expansion": "jack-in-the-box (plural jacks-in-boxes or jacks-in-the-boxes or jack-in-the-boxes or jacks-in-the-box)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Jack o’ the clock"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:",
          "text": "\"Did you venture to call me a liar?\" (\"No, sir, no!\" shouted the accused, and disappeared like a Jack-in-the-box.)",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Children’s toy consisting of a small box from which a male figure pops out unexpectedly after some turnings of a crank."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "toy",
          "toy"
        ],
        [
          "figure",
          "figure"
        ],
        [
          "pops out",
          "pop out"
        ],
        [
          "crank",
          "crank"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Donald Thomas, The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes:",
          "text": "It was possible, from underneath, to use the old jack-in-the-box safe-breaker's tool which lay in his gasman's bag.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "screw",
          "screw"
        ],
        [
          "burglar",
          "burglar"
        ],
        [
          "safe",
          "safe"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A small but powerful kind of screw, used by burglars to break open safes."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A con-man who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A con-man who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "word": "玩偶匣"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "word": "惊吓盒"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "trold i æske"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "word": "vieteriukko"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "diable en boîte"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "q̇uti gamomxṭomi pigurit",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "word": "ყუთი გამომხტომი ფიგურით"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Schachtelteufel"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Springteufel"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "bikkuribako",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "word": "びっくり箱"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "čórtik iz koróbočki",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "чёртик из коро́бочки"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "čort iz tabakérki",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "чёрт из табаке́рки"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "caja de sorpresa"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "word": "caja sorpresa de jack"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "gubben i lådan"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "child’s toy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "jac-yn-y-bocs"
    }
  ],
  "word": "jack-in-the-box"
}

Download raw JSONL data for jack-in-the-box meaning in English (4.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.