jostle

verb

jos·tle | \ ˈjä-səl

jostled; jostling\ ˈjā-s(ə-)liŋ

Definition of jostle

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : 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 room— Daniel Defoe

transitive verb

1a : 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 other— D. G. Mandelbaum

2 : to vie with in attaining an objective an enormous industry in which a great many companies and interests jostle each other fiercely — Washington Post

jostle

noun

Definition of jostle (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the experience of being pushed or jostled (see jostle entry 1) might glide through … life among them without a jostle— Thomas 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 event— David Foster Wallace

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about jostle

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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

Close-ups of French friends jostle alongside wide-screen landscapes; little notes and arrows carry us along Thompson’s stream-of-consciousness; there’s a page on how to wind a turban, complete with steps. — New York Times, "A Youthful, Lovesick Journey Revealed in a Sketchbook," 6 July 2018 Other employees were inside a nearby bus when the explosion jarred the vehicle enough to throw some of them off kilter and injure them as they were jostled around, the lawsuit says. — Rye Druzin, San Antonio Express-News, "Workers sue San Antonio-based Valero for refinery explosion injuries," 31 May 2018 Containers bursting with giant roses, peonies and exotic blooms jostle for space with a curated selection of planters, African art, and other curiosities. — Noah Zagor, chicagotribune.com, "Shop where models get facials and celebs get styled," 1 May 2018 To understand and appreciate my value in my family, and not fall into that easy trap of doubting myself and trying to jostle with my mother-in-law for respect and the role of matriarch. — Miriam Foley, Good Housekeeping, "I Didn't Appreciate My Mother-in-Law Until I Had a Daughter," 17 Jan. 2019 There are a vast number of other counter-drone lasers jostling for room in the marketplace, from the U.S. Army’s own version, to systems from makers like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin and European firms BAE Systems and Rheinmetall. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "What Are Airports Going to Do About Drones?," 9 Jan. 2019 Families jostled to take selfies with smiling children while several men took turns performing fascist salutes. — Jeannette Neumann, WSJ, "Spain’s Plan to Exhume Franco Unearths Divisions," 6 Sep. 2018 As the team’s members jostled to find shade under a canop, WARR’s pod sprinted to peak speed of 290 mph (466 kmh) — a new global record. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, "SpaceX’s hyperloop race was all about ‘maximum speed’ (and celebrating Elon Musk)," 28 July 2018 In the 19th-century kitchen cabinet, Keith Haring plates jostled Bloomsbury pottery. — Hamish Bowles, Vogue, "Hamish Bowles Remembers Lucy Birley, Who Has Died at 58," 25 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

This allowed the jostle of distinctive forms, rather than a monolithic mass. — John King, SFChronicle.com, "Well-crafted Jackson Square condos rich in design inspiration," 2 July 2018 In the engrossing West Cork, about the 1996 murder in Ireland of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier, four accents in English jostle for dominance—and, with them, worldviews. — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, "Seduce Me! The Untainted Sweet Sounds of Accent-Riddled Podcasts," 1 June 2018 Bright blue banners for al-Sadr's election alliance jostle for space along streets lined with martyr posters and images of al-Sadr and his father. — Susannah George, Fox News, "Iraqi Shiite cleric gained ground with nationalist voice," 14 May 2018 The sequence starts along the half-wall, where a cluster of white and black jerseys jostles for possession. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "A Game of Oddities: Tampa Bay's Game 4 Win Over Boston Featured Several Puzzling Moments," 5 May 2018 After Allison grabbed the wheel, Martin felt the bus jostle and swerved to the right, off the road. — Emily Foxhall, San Antonio Express-News, "Channelview band director hailed as hero in wake of Alabama bus crash," 14 Mar. 2018 The system uses hydraulic stops to help absorb and dissipate energy when the suspension compresses and rebounds, improving ride quality over bumps by limiting the typical jostle of springs and dampers. — Greg Fink, Car and Driver, "Prickly Issue: Citroen Makes Its C4 Cactus More Normal," 6 Mar. 2018 These latest quakes were caused by the movement of tectonic plates, the pieces of Earth’s crust that move and jostle against each other. — Maya Wei-haas, Smithsonian, "How Mexico City’s Unique Geology Makes Deadly Earthquakes Even Worse," 20 Sep. 2017 These onions go down amid what at times can be a crowded, chaotic scene, in which diners wait for seats and jostle for access to condiment dispensers, trash cans, silverware bins and soda machines. — Matt Stiles, latimes.com, "Costco stores in South Korea offer chopped onions for hot dogs. Koreans have a different idea," 19 Sep. 2017

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