English

Verb

jack in ‎(third-person singular simple present jacks in, present participle jacking in, simple past and past participle jacked in)

1. (transitive, idiomatic, Britain) To stop doing a regular activity. Often a job or studies.

   I've had enough of working nights, so I'm going to jack in my job.

   I'm going to jack my job in.

2. (music recording, computing, electronics) To insert an electronic coupling into a receptacle; to connect to something, whether involving a physical medium or not.
3. (science fiction) To connect a brain directly to a computer.
   • 1970 June, Silverberg, Robert, “The Tower of Glass”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 30, page 141:

     Watchman replaced him in the linkup seat. He jacked himself into the computer.

   • 1986, Gibson, William, “Winter Market”, in Burning Chrome, page 129:

     She couldn't move, not without that extra skeleton, and it was jacked straight into her brain, myoelectric interface.

Derived terms

• jack it in UK

Usage notes

• In the British idiom, the object may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.

References

• (science fiction): Jeff Prucher, editor (2007) Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530567-8, page 103
• (science fiction): jack in v. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project