jitney

[ jit-nee ]
See synonyms for jitney on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural jit·neys.
  1. a small bus or car following a regular route along which it picks up and discharges passengers, originally charging each passenger five cents.

  2. Older Slang. a nickel; five-cent piece.

verb (used with or without object),jit·neyed, jit·ney·ing.
  1. to carry or ride in a jitney.

Origin of jitney

1
1900–05, Americanism; of obscure origin; French jetonjetton is a phonetically implausible source

Words Nearby jitney

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jitney in a sentence

  • I never enjoyed meeting anyone so much before as that jitney man.

  • Finally the truck halted, and the jitney traveled on a few hundred feet in advance before it, too, had to stop.

    Girl Scouts at Dandelion Camp | Lillian Elizabeth Roy
  • I am starting a jitney-line and am always on hand for my clients.

    Natalie: A Garden Scout | Lillian Elizabeth Roy
  • Dad says I have to be sixteen before I can have a license to drive a jitney.

    Natalie: A Garden Scout | Lillian Elizabeth Roy
  • The jitney struck its bone-shaking gait along the curving street of Endicutt.

    Cursed | George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for jitney

jitney

/ (ˈdʒɪtnɪ) /


nounUS rare
  1. a small bus that carries passengers for a low price, originally five cents

  2. slang a nickel; five cents

Origin of jitney

1
C20: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012