Meaning & use
jaywalking
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Meanings
noununcountableAmerican
The act of crossing a street illegally or carelessly, such as away from a crossing or against a traffic signal.
Grammar: Uncountable: jaywalking is illegal here, not a jaywalking.
Patterns
- fined for jaywalking
- a ticket for jaywalking
The police gave him a warning for jaywalking.
Jaywalking is common near the university because the crosswalk is far away.
She was fined twenty dollars for jaywalking.
verbintransitiveAmerican
-ing form of jaywalk: crossing a road in a careless or illegal way.
Grammar: No object; usually followed by across or a place: jaywalking across the avenue.
Patterns
- be jaywalking across something
The man was jaywalking across the avenue when the light changed.
Kids were jaywalking between parked cars.
Stop jaywalking and use the crossing.
Word forms
| base form | jaywalk |
|---|---|
| third person singular | jaywalks |
| past tense | jaywalked |
Common combinations
- fined for jaywalking
- Tourists were fined for jaywalking in the city center.
- a jaywalking ticket
- He got a jaywalking ticket on his way to work.
- caught jaywalking
- She was caught jaywalking outside the station.
- jaywalking laws
- Jaywalking laws vary between cities.
- jaywalking pedestrian
- The driver braked hard for a jaywalking pedestrian.
Synonyms and how they differ
- crossing illegally
- Crossing illegally is a plain description, while jaywalking is the dedicated word that sounds natural in American English.
- crossing against the light
- This only covers ignoring a signal, whereas jaywalking also includes crossing outside a crosswalk.
- trespassing
- Trespassing is entering private land without permission, which is unrelated to crossing a road.
- darting
- Darting describes a sudden quick movement and is not an offense on its own.
Opposites
Word family
- jaywalk verb
- to cross a street illegally or carelessly
- jaywalker noun
- a person who crosses a street illegally
- crosswalk noun
- a marked place to cross a road
- pedestrian noun
- a person walking on a road or street
Commonly confused: jaywalking or jaywalker?
jaywalking vs jaywalker
A jaywalker is the person, while jaywalking is the act.
Practice
A pedestrian crosses the middle of a busy block with a crosswalk nearby. This is ____.
Choose one answer.
Jaywalking is crossing a street improperly. Trespassing, loitering and hitchhiking name other behaviors.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jaywalking”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.