jostle

1 of 2

verb

jos·​tle ˈjä-səl How to pronounce jostle (audio)
jostled; jostling ˈjā-s(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce jostle (audio)

intransitive verb

1
a
: to come in contact or into collision
a jostling crowd
b
: to make one's way by pushing and shoving
people jostling toward the exit
c
: to exist in close proximity
2
: to vie in gaining an objective : contend
tribes began to jostle with one another for roomDaniel Defoe

transitive verb

1
a
: to come in contact or into collision with
being jostled by the crowd
b
: to force by pushing : elbow
jostled his way through the crowd
c
: to stir up : agitate
thunder jostled us awake
d
: to exist in close proximity with
Europe, where a number of languages jostle each otherD. G. Mandelbaum
2
: to vie with in attaining an objective
an enormous industry in which a great many companies and interests jostle each other fiercelyWashington Post

jostle

2 of 2

noun

1
: the experience of being pushed or jostled (see jostle entry 1)
might glide through … life among them without a jostleThomas Jefferson
2
: the state of being crowded or pushed together : the state of being jostled
the state fair is deliberately about the crowds and jostle, the noise and overload of sight and eventDavid Foster Wallace

Examples of jostle in a Sentence

Verb Everyone in the crowd was jostling each other trying to get a better view. everyone glared at the man who jostled to the front of the line
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Crowds jostle around bathrooms whose pipes are often clogged. Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 More than 4 inches of thickness on the bottom allows your child to sit or kneel easily without worrying about jostling or bumps. Heather Balogh Rochfort, Parents, 26 Feb. 2024 This sudden impact can cause the brain to jostle around within the skull, triggering a cascade of chemical changes and potentially damaging and stretching individual brain cells. Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 20 Feb. 2024 At the end of the segment, David, who appeared on the show afterward, jokingly jostled Elmo. Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 1 Feb. 2024 The leading candidates jostling for her job include three fellow Democrats — all further to her left on some key issues — and a Republican to her right. John Woolfolk, The Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2024 Repels moshing, jostling, pushing, elbowing, and sweaty, long-haired dancers with no concept of personal space. Jennie Egerdie, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2024 Toast spices over low heat, stirring and jostling often, until deeply fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Aleksandra Crapanzano, WSJ, 6 Dec. 2023 Eventually, hundreds of people began to fall on top of each other as waves of revelers pushed up and down the sloping strip of pavement, jostling to go in opposite directions. Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2023
Noun
The Barbie events will come as Gerwig’s film jostles with Christopher Nolan’s drama Oppenheimer for box office supremacy. José Sánchez Córdova, Dallas News, 11 July 2023 But to invoke hand-to-hand combat, and infliction of actual physical violence, as a jostle for computer-app supremacy does ring new bells. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 23 June 2023 The bed jostles, a noiseless vibration, as heart monitors unstick themselves from her chest and retreat into the EKG monitor. Annalee Newitz, Rolling Stone, 28 June 2023 In Los Angeles or San Francisco, agitation of this sort was the usual jostle. Mark Arax, New York Times, 1 June 2023 The officer places his hand on the holster and hunches over while the two jostle outside the gas station. Olivia Diaz, Washington Post, 25 May 2023 As their twin narratives continue, Auburn jostles audience expectations, steering the story away from potentially melodramatic plot points, eschewing sentimentality — even offering a flight of fancy or two. Frank Rizzo, Variety, 26 Apr. 2023 With the loss, Dallas (36-37) fell 1.5 games behind sixth-place Golden State (38-36) in the jostle to finish among the top six automatic postseason qualifiers and avoid the 7th-through-10-place play-in tournament. Brad Townsend, Dallas News, 22 Mar. 2023 The case of the Marshall Islands is emblematic of the increasingly fervent geopolitical competition in the Pacific as the United States and China jostle for influence. Pete McKenzie, Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jostle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

alteration of justle, frequentative of joust entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1546, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of jostle was in 1546

Dictionary Entries Near jostle

Cite this Entry

“Jostle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jostle. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

jostle

1 of 2 verb
jos·​tle ˈjäs-əl How to pronounce jostle (audio)
jostled; jostling -(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce jostle (audio)
1
: to run or knock against so as to jar : push roughly
2
: to make one's way by jostling

jostle

2 of 2 noun
: a jostling blow : shove

More from Merriam-Webster on jostle

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