minute-jack

noun

A figure which strikes the hour on the bell of some fanciful clocks; Jack o' the clock.

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Meanings

nounminute-jack (plural minute-jacks)

plural minute-jacks

  1. A figure which strikes the hour on the bell of some fanciful clocks; Jack o' the clock.
  2. obsoleteA timeserver; an inconstant person.

    Cap-and-knee slaves, vapours, and minute-jacks!

    c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vi]
Cite this entry
APA

minute-jack. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minute-jack

MLA

“minute-jack.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minute-jack. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “minute-jack,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minute-jack.

Source: minute-jack on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.