jockey

noun

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jock·ey | \ ˈjä-kē

plural jockeys

Definition of jockey

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a person who rides or drives a horse especially as a professional in a race

2 : a person who operates or works with a specified vehicle, device, object, or material a bus jockey pencil jockeys

jockey

verb

jockeyed; jockeying

Definition of jockey (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to maneuver or manipulate by adroit or devious means was jockeyed out of the job

b : to change the position of by a series of movements jockey a truck into position

2a : to ride or drive (a horse) as a jockey

b : drive, operate

3 : to deal shrewdly or fraudulently with

intransitive verb

1 : to maneuver for advantage —often used in the phrase jockey for position

2 : to act as a jockey

Examples of jockey in a Sentence

Verb There was a lot of political jockeying at the fund-raiser. The driver carefully jockeyed the truck into a narrow space in the crowded parking lot.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Bye Bye Beautiful was pulled up past the half-mile pole by jockey Tiago Pereira. — CBS News, "36th horse dies at Santa Anita racetrack since December," 28 Oct. 2019 Collusion Illusion was eased by jockey Joe Talamo and didn’t finish. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Horse grazes 2 people on track at Santa Anita fall opener," 27 Sep. 2019 Incensed, guided by jockey Kyle Frey, set the pace before drawing away from his competition down the stretch, finishing seven lengths ahead of second-place finisher Karma King. — Los Angeles Times, "Racing! Look at Del Mar’s stakes for next meeting," 29 Aug. 2019 Stride by stride, the charging Deirdre -- ridden by jockey Oisin Murphy -- hunts down Dettori's front-running Mehdaayih. — Rob Hodgetts, CNN, "Goodwood brings glorious end to English social season," 8 Aug. 2019 Tried dirt last out after two turf routes prior and blasted home to win by eight lengths hand-ridden by Sunday’s jockey Martin Pedroza. — John Cherwa, latimes.com, "Racing! Game Winner is back in winning form," 14 July 2019 But the massive favorite was eased by jockey Kent Desormeaux toward the end of the race and finished last. — Lucas Aulbach, The Courier-Journal, "Morning Coffee: The most memorable Belmont Stakes runs of the past 20 years," 7 June 2019 Then on Saturday, on a track left soupy by more than three inches of rain, jockey Mike Smith let Justify challenge a pace that would be suicidal in the Kentucky Derby for just about any other horse. — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, "With decisive Kentucky Derby win, Justify emerges as Triple Crown threat," 5 May 2018 Zing Zang was an impressive maiden winner on Dec. 16 at the Fair Grounds and will be ridden by jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, the meet's leading rider with 31 wins. — Jeff Duncan, NOLA.com, "Principe Guilherme launches Kentucky Derby quest in LeComte Stakes," 13 Jan. 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Given the nature of Indonesian politics, Widodo has two years at the most to make the necessary changes before jockeying begins ahead of the next presidential race in 2024. — Washington Post, "Why Indonesia Is Missing Out as Companies Move Out of China," 7 Nov. 2019 And the duo allowed Pacers to attack Detroit’s defense with balanced approach -- giving them a big who could roam the perimeter (Turner) while the other (Sabonis) jockeyed for positioning in the post. — Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star, "In Pacers loss, Myles Turner-Domantas Sabonis pairing thrives but still leaves plenty of questions," 24 Oct. 2019 Just like the teams in the West are still jockeying to play at home in the opening round, a similar scramble is happening in the Eastern Conference. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Decision Day _ and Golden Boot Day _ looms for MLS," 5 Oct. 2019 The Sparks, jockeying for position in the congested playoff standings, welcomed the Atlanta Dream, long eliminated from the postseason, to the Staples Center on Tuesday night. — Brady Klopfer, Los Angeles Times, "Sparks overcome sluggish start with star power in victory over Dream," 3 Sep. 2019 At least 700 activists filled a hall at the Iowa Event Center in downtown Des Moines as a parade of candidates echoed Bloomberg in arguing that their side has the NRA on the run, and jockeyed to demonstrate the most ardent commitment to gun control. — Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, "At gun control forum after El Paso rampage, 2020 Dems join Bloomberg boasting that NRA is on the run," 10 Aug. 2019 Players hit with conviction while fans jockeyed for position. — Marc Bona, cleveland.com, "Fans scramble as Home Run Derby sends baseballs sailing out at Progressive Field (video)," 9 July 2019 Parking pro tip: Don’t jockey for a parking spot in the Village, the small, main tourist district. — Allen Pierleoni, The Mercury News, "A weekend of beachy fun in Capitola-by-the-Sea," 16 June 2019 Everywhere cameras and cellphones could be seen jockeying to capture the scene. — Doug Maccash, nola.com, "Remembering Leah Chase’s second-line parade in New Orleans," 13 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jockey.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.