jaywalk

verb

jay·walk | \ ˈjā-ˌwȯk

jaywalked; jaywalking; jaywalks

Definition of jaywalk

intransitive verb

: 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

The police officer warned us not to jaywalk.

Recent Examples on the Web

Before Stephon Clark's fatal shooting by Sacramento police became an international story last month, Nandi Cain Jr. was punched repeatedly by a city cop for allegedly jaywalking on his way home from work in Del Paso Heights. — Marcos Bretón, sacbee, "'I'm not OK today.' She witnessed a cop beating and relives it always | The Sacramento Bee," 10 Apr. 2018 In the body camera footage, Hickman can be seen beating and tasing 33-year-old Johnnie Rush after he was stopped for jaywalking on August 24, 2017. — Crimesider Staff, CBS News, "Ex-Asheville cop arraigned on charges he beat man over jaywalking," 9 Mar. 2018 The settlement also requires the city to track and report jaywalking citations and change its use-of-force policy, though details of that were not immediately available. — Anita Chabria, sacbee, "Man beaten by Sacramento cop after jaywalking stop settles his case for more than money | The Sacramento Bee," 6 Apr. 2018 The city also agreed to compare police reports and body camera footage for accuracy, as well as track jaywalking citations and post that information publicly for three years, Cain’s attorneys said. — Washington Post, "Sacramento settles police beating lawsuit, promises reforms," 6 Apr. 2018 Bartholomew added that August and September are popular months for seeing Sasquatch jaywalking across the street. — Fox News, "Bigfoot spotted crossing rural New York highway," 15 Aug. 2018 These tools range from facial-recognition software ostensibly aimed at curbing jaywalking to nearly omnipresent surveillance cameras monitoring the county's Uighur minority. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Google Employees Sign Protest Letter Against Secretive Chinese Search Engine," 27 Nov. 2018 Eliminating jaywalking and similar offenses won’t lead to anarchy on American roads. — Matt Ford, The New Republic, "The Case Against Jaywalking Laws," 12 Mar. 2018 In the body camera footage, Hickman and then-officer-in-training Verino Ruggiero were seen in the cruiser, only for one of the officers to start complaining about Rush’s jaywalking after he had been warned. — Breanna Edwards, The Root, "Walking While Black: Body Cam Footage Shows Brutal Beating of North Carolina Man over Alleged Jaywalking, Trespassing," 2 Mar. 2018

These 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.