jog¹ (jŏg)

v., jogged, jog·ging, jogs.

v.tr.

1. To move by shoving, bumping, or jerking; jar: a rough wagon ride that jogged the passengers.
2. To give a push or shake to; nudge: jogged her dozing companion with her elbow.
3. To rouse or stimulate as if by nudging: an old photo that might jog your memory.
4. To cause (a horse) to move at a leisurely pace.

v.intr.

1. To move with a jolting rhythm: The pack jogged against his back as he ran.
2. 1. To run or ride at a steady slow trot: jogged out to their positions on the playing field.
   2. Sports. To run in such a way for sport or exercise.
3. 1. To go or travel at a slow or leisurely pace: The old car jogged along until it reached the hill.
   2. To proceed in a leisurely manner: "while his life was thus jogging easily along" (Duff Cooper).

n.

1. A slight push or shake; a nudge.
2. A jogging movement or rhythm.
3. A slow steady trot.

[Perhaps alteration of Middle English shoggen, to shake, move with a jerk, perhaps alteration of shokken, to move rapidly, from Middle Low German schocken, to shake.]

jogger jog'ger n.

jog² (jŏg)
n.

1. A protruding or receding part in a surface or line.
2. An abrupt change in direction: a jog in the road.

intr.v., jogged, jog·ging, jogs.
To turn sharply; veer: Here the boundary jogs south.

[Variant of JAG¹.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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