The Collaborative International Dictionary
Job \Job\ (j[o^]b), n. [Prov. E. job, gob, n., a small piece of wood, v., to stab, strike; cf. E. gob, gobbet; perh. influenced by E. chop to cut off, to mince. See Gob.]
A sudden thrust or stab; a jab.
A piece of chance or occasional work; any definite work undertaken in gross for a fixed price; as, he did the job for a thousand dollars.
A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately. [Colloq.]
A situation or opportunity of work; as, he lost his job.
A task, or the execution of a task; as, Michelangelo did a great job on the David statue.
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(Computers) A task or coordinated set of tasks for a multitasking computer, submitted for processing as a single unit, usually for execution in background. See job control language.
Note: Job is used adjectively to signify doing jobs, used for jobs, or let on hire to do jobs; as, job printer; job master; job horse; job wagon, etc.
By the job, at a stipulated sum for the work, or for each piece of work done; -- distinguished from time work; as, the house was built by the job.
Job lot, a quantity of goods, usually miscellaneous, sold out of the regular course of trade, at a certain price for the whole; as, these articles were included in a job lot.
Job master, one who lest out horses and carriages for hire, as for family use. [Eng.]
Job printer, one who does miscellaneous printing, esp. circulars, cards, billheads, etc.
Odd job, miscellaneous work of a petty kind; occasional work, of various kinds, or for various people.
to do a job on, to harm badly or destroy. [slang]
on the job, alert; performing a responsibility well.
Usage examples of "by the job".
They shovel glory hounds out of the Academy by the job-lot and we have to spend years breaking them of such fatuous nonsense.
Long Tom and Johnny and Pat, listening to the sounds, were impressed by the job of acting Renny was doing.
His motivation excised by the job guarantee, Tuck made passing grades until his college career was cut short by an emergency call from his mother.
You get paid, not by the job, but by salary and a percentage of the take.
Frankly, I was a little overwhelmed by the job, and I didn't care to see anybody.
It is more a question of the limitations that are imposed by the job, and of finding a rifle which will perform satisfactorily under those limitations.
After a few minutes, he was satisfied by the job he'd done and turned off the shower.
Although consciously obedient and happy, that nasty subconscious would be helplessly humiliated by the job and the status, and that was perfect.
But then I remembered that Princess Ella was paying me by the job and not by the hour, so I bought a newspaper and took a seat at the Silver Spoon Coffee Shop to plan my next move.
Sandy was overwhelmed by the job of inventorying, indexing, and otherwise making the material available for use as desired.