Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A toy consisting of a clownlike puppet that springs out of a box when the lid is activated.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
jack-in-a-box .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Children’s toy where a figure
pops out of a small box. - noun obsolete A con-man who deceived tradesmen by substituting empty boxes for others full of money.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun plaything consisting of a toy clown that jumps out of a box when the lid is opened
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The crank clicked as Fancy turned it, like a jack-in-the-box, only instead of hearing music, they saw the image of the happy place on the screen projected onto the four walls, and then the ceiling and the floor.
Slice Of Cherry Dia Reeves 2011
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A sinister jack-in-the-box haunts the lives of the children who owned it.
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The man had come upon him like the eruption of a jack-in-the-box.
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The bead will pop into your vision like a jack-in-the-box.
Shotgun Slug Accuracy Tips from the American Slug Shooting Association 2009
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She knew the huge, twenty-foot, spring snake coiled inside the camera and ready to leap out like a jack-in-the-box when Dick squeezed the bulb.
CHAPTER XXIX 2010
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He is a jack-in-the-box the way he pops into the chair.
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I think a middle-aged man with a big paunch straddling a motorcycle looks like a jack-in-the-box before it springs—all rolled up in himself.
Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear Elizabeth Chandler 2011
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I think a middle-aged man with a big paunch straddling a motorcycle looks like a jack-in-the-box before it springs—all rolled up in himself.
Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear Elizabeth Chandler 2011
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Thomas Mugridge popped out of his galley like a jack-in-the-box.
Chapter 3 2010
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I think a middle-aged man with a big paunch straddling a motorcycle looks like a jack-in-the-box before it springs—all rolled up in himself.
Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear Elizabeth Chandler 2011
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