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jaywalked; jaywalking; jaywalks
: to cross a street carelessly or in an illegal manner so as to be endangered by traffic
jaywalker
noun
Examples of jaywalk in a Sentence
The police officer warned us not to jaywalk.
Recent Examples on the Web
An Uber vehicle operating autonomously, with a safety driver behind the wheel, hit and killed a person who was jaywalking in Tempe.
—Corina Vanek, The Arizona Republic, 13 May 2024
Most members and employees opt to park on the side of the club instead of trying to jaywalk across the street.
—Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Banks wouldn’t lend, police used crimes such as jaywalking to arrest, schools failed to teach.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Driverless passenger cars have caused chaos in cities like San Francisco, including one horrific accident last year when a robotaxi hit a jaywalking pedestrian and dragged her about 20 feet.
—Trisha Thadani, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2024
And in October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended permits for driverless car company Cruise after one of its cars dragged a jaywalking pedestrian about 20 feet after she had been hit by a regular car.
—Jeremy B. Merrill, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2023
Almost no one is arrested for jaywalking, of course.
—Adam Liptak, New York Times, 6 Nov. 2023
In October, 1991, he was stopped by the police for jaywalking in downtown Oakland.
—Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
Portland police later stopped Cummins for jaywalking near Southwest Broadway and Oak Street Aug. 30.
—Austindedios, oregonlive, 14 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jaywalk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1915, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to jaywalk
Dictionary Entries Near jaywalk
Cite this Entry
“Jaywalk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jaywalk. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
jaywalk
verb
jay·walk
ˈjā-ˌwȯk
: to cross a street carelessly without paying attention to traffic regulations
jaywalker
noun
Legal Definition
jaywalk
intransitive verb
jay·walk
ˈjā-ˌwȯk
: to cross a street carelessly or in an illegal manner so as to be endangered by traffic
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