jaywalk
verb
\
Definition of jaywalk
: to cross a street carelessly or in an illegal manner so as to be endangered by traffic
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Examples of jaywalk in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Many who died were males, were jaywalking or had alcohol in their systems on multilane roads in urban areas at night. — Detroit Free Press, "Death on foot," 28 June 2018 Body camera video obtained by Asheville's Citizen-Times showed a second Asheville police officer warning Rush about repeatedly jaywalking at the beginning of the incident. — Bruce Henderson, charlotteobserver, "Ex-Asheville cop won't face federal charges in violent arrest of black jaywalker," 29 June 2018 In the video, the victim, Elaine Herzberg, 49, appears to be illegally jaywalking from a median strip across two lanes of traffic on a dark road. — Russ Mitchell, latimes.com, "Experts say video of Uber's self-driving car killing a pedestrian suggests its technology may have failed," 22 Mar. 2018 James Harnett, 20, is often among those jaywalking students. — Shira Stein, Washington Post, "D.C. college students seek a voice in communities beyond campus," 23 May 2018 Seven of the victims were apparently jaywalking, hit by a vehicle on the roadway, outside of an intersection or marked crosswalk. — USA TODAY, "Death on foot: Where you're most likely to die in the 5 most dangerous cities," 3 July 2018 The city of Daye, in China’s Hubei province, has long struggled to suppress the scourge of jaywalking. — David Scharfenberg, BostonGlobe.com, "Innovation of the Week: Jaywalking deterrent," 11 May 2018 Police had stopped Barry after midnight for jaywalking and then arrested him after an exchange of words. — Leonard Downie Jr., Washington Post, "In segregated D.C., few officials feared rioting. They had not considered the suffering of black residents.," 27 Mar. 2018 Some victims were drunk, drugged, wearing dark clothing at midnight, jaywalking or just oblivious to danger. — Bruce Selcraig, San Antonio Express-News, "Traffic engineers struggle to curb pedestrian deaths," 19 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jaywalk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Learn More about jaywalk
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking
Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking
The origin of the word has nothing to do with the shape of the letter J
Statistics for jaywalk
Last Updated
14 Sep 2018
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for jaywalk
The first known use of jaywalk was in 1915
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More Definitions for jaywalk
jaywalk
verb
English Language Learners Definition of jaywalk
: to cross a street carelessly or at an illegal or dangerous place
See the full definition for jaywalk in the English Language Learners Dictionary
jaywalk
verb
\
Kids Definition of jaywalk
: to cross a street in a place or in a way that is against traffic regulations
jaywalk
intransitive verb
\
Legal Definition of jaywalk
: to cross a street carelessly or in an illegal manner so as to be endangered by traffic
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