- Informal. to attempt to influence or pressure by persuasion rather than by the exertion of force or one's authority, as in urging voluntary compliance with economic guidelines: The president jawboned the steel industry into postponing price increases.
- Informal. obtained by or resorting to such a practice: jawbone controls.
Origin of jawbone
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for jawbone
Sure, your cubicle mate, neighbor, and aunt all own a Fitbit or JawBone fitness tracker.Nothing Says I Love You Like Data
The Daily Beast
December 8, 2014
You wear a FitBit Flex, Jawbone Up, or Nike Fuel Band on your wrist, and go about your normal day.Self-Tracking for N00bz
Jamie Todd Rubin
July 24, 2014
From my neck to my temples, there is a throbbing soreness on both sides of my face, all radiating from the hinge of my jawbone.After War: Anger, Panic, and Sometimes Peace
June 26, 2013
Then, like a twist in a pulp thriller, the jawbone washed up on shore in Aruba.
But they have not officially confirmed whether or not the jawbone is even human, let alone if it belongs to the missing girl.
Abel is stricken with a jawbone and dieth; Cain casteth him into a ditch.Rambles Beyond Railways;
The jawbone is prominent (partly on account of the drying up of the flesh).The Mystery of Mary Stuart
The latter is made from the jawbone of a whale and is extremely heavy.The Central Eskimo
Mr. Lesueur made a drawing of this jawbone, which is deposited in the library.
There is Samson belaboring the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Volume 2
- US to try to persuade or bring pressure to bear (on) by virtue of one's high office or position, esp in urging compliance with official policy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for jawbone
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
- The maxilla or, especially, the mandible.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.