DJ

1 of 3

noun

ˈdē-ˌjā 

plural DJs

: disc jockey

When they [the Beatles] arrived in the U.S. in 1964, John Lennon spent his first night in New York in his hotel room, calling up radio DJs and asking them to play the Ronettes.

—Rob Sheffield

A hip-hop DJ's roles can be multi-faceted: finding the music for dancing, playing the popular tracks, being the rapper's background band, having, maintaining, and providing the equipment, producing the beats, and not least improvising instrumental solos.

—Kjetil Falkenberg Hansen

—sometimes used as a title in the stage name of disc jockeys

Jeffrey Allen Townes, better known as DJ Jazzy Jeff, is a producer, deejay and actor …

—Greg Bishop

DJ

2 of 3

verb

DJed also DJ'd; DJing; DJs

transitive + intransitive

: to perform the role of a disc jockey : to act as a DJ for

Snoop Dogg has revealed that he turned down [an] offer to DJ a party for Michael Jordan.

—Will Lavin

The distinctiveness of DJing in hip hop started with the development of adroit techniques on two turntables.

—Patrick Rivers

There was a festive vibe as [Herman] Matfes DJ'd the event with fun Hanukkah and holiday music.

—Lani Mustacchi

… Paris Hilton DJed a New Year's Eve party on her own virtual island this year.

—Brad Thomas

DJ

3 of 3

abbreviation

1

district judge

2

doctor of jurisprudence

3

dust jacket

Examples of DJ in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Ozu and the renowned French DJ premiered the latter at the 2023 Latin Grammys on Thursday night (Nov. 16). —Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 17 Nov. 2023

Music supervision for the evening was handled by DJ Daisy O’Dell. —Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 17 Nov. 2023

Mexican psychedelic punk band Bastidas!, psychedelic Latin exotica pop band Hidden Gems and DJ Santi help make dreams come true. —Kamren Curiel, Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov. 2023

This week’s batch includes new projects from André 3000, Danny Brown, Kurt Vile, Ali Sethi & Nicolás Jaar, DJ Manny, Daniel Bachman, Thandi Ntuli, Rainy Miller & Space Afrika, and Frog. —Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 17 Nov. 2023

The music blaring at Rizzoli’s NoMad flagship on Tuesday night was a retro set of ’70s glam rock courtesy of DJ Stretch Armstrong, with designer and host Frida Giannini holding court in a Woodstock concert T-shirt. —Mario Abad, Vogue, 15 Nov. 2023

There’s definitely a nonzero chance that samples from this record might be found in ’90s releases from DJ Shadow and his fellow crate-digging beat miners. —Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2023

Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, and Bernie Taupin received the Musical Excellence Award; DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray received the Musical Influence Award; and Don Cornelius received the Ahmet Ertegun Award. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 4 Nov. 2023

In addition to Taupin and Khan, Al Kooper were honored with awards for musical excellence, while DJ Kool Herc and Wray were honored for musical influence. —Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Nov. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1946, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1948, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

DJ

noun

ˈdē-ˌjā

often not capitalized

: disc jockey