job

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a damaging piece of work

   dry rot did the job of destroying the barn

2. 2
   noun

   the performance of a piece of work

   They did an outstanding job in the play.

3. 3
   noun

   the responsibility to do something

   it is their job to print the truth

4. 4
   noun

   a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee

   estimates of the city's loss on that job ranged as high as a million dollars

5. 5
   noun

   a crime (especially a robbery)

   the gang pulled off a bank job in St. Louis

6. 6
   noun

   a workplace

   as in the expression on the job

7. 7
   verb

   work occasionally

   As a student I jobbed during the semester breaks

8. 8
   noun

   any long-suffering person who withstands affliction without despairing

   Sometimes the office worker felt like Job.

Etymology

From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”). More at gob, jab, chop.