Also 7–8 jett. See also JUT sb. [Partly from JET v.2; in sense 3, app. connected or associated with JET v.1; partly (senses 4–6) from senses of F. jet, f. jeter to throw, cast.]
I. † 1. A projection, protruding part; = JETTY sb. 2. Obs.
1610. G. Fletcher, Christ’s Vict., II. xiii. Pillars that … rise with goodly grace and courage bold To beare his Temple on their ample ietts.
II. † 2. A sudden darting movement; a dart, spring, ‘sprint.’ Obs.
1647. H. More, Song of Soul, I. I. lii. Their jets [of sparrows], their jumps, that mirour doth disclose. Ibid., II. iii. III. lxxi. So could I … prove … why Saturn moves Ofter in those back jets then Jove doth shoot.
† 3. An affected movement or jerk of the body; a swagger. Obs.
1687. Sedley, Bellam., I. Wks. 1722, II. 100. Yonder goes an odd Fellow with a very pretty Wench: what a Toss she has with her head, and a Jett with her Breech.
1712. Budgell, Spect., No. 277, ¶ 17. The genteel Trip, and the agreeable Jett, as they are now practised at the Court of France.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, I. 222. She … has got the Town Jett with her Bum too.
III. 4. A stream of water or other liquid shot forward or thrown upwards (either in a spurt or continuously), esp. from a small orifice; hence, any similar emission of liquid, steam or gas; more rarely, a shower of solid bodies, as stones, etc.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), Jet,… a spouting forth of Waters.
1728. Pope, Dunc., II. 177. Thus the small jett which hasty hands unlock, Spirts in the gardner’s eyes who turns the cock.
1821. Southey, Vis. Judgem., iv. Turrets and pinnacles sparkled, Playing in jets of light.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 1185. Lighted by … a single hoop … with little jets of gas.
1846. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., I. II. V. ii. § 2. A jet of spray leaps hissing out of the fall.
1854. Ronalds & Richardson, Chem. Technol. (ed. 2), I. 379. In a tank, where it is heated, by means of a jet of steam.
1869. Phillips, Vesuvius, ix. 252. Jets of solid stones … are thrown up with violence.
b. transf. and fig.
1822–34. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 4), II. 8. The stream of nervous power, thus communicated by jets from the sensorial fountain.
1877. ‘H. A. Page,’ De Quincey, II. xvi. 28. He would brighten up … with little jets of humour.
5. A spout or nozzle for emitting water, gas, etc.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 216. Two other branch-pipes, supplied with gas from the gasometer, and ending in a jet at each end.
1851. Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 39. Garden-engine … with jet and spreader, for watering plants, greenhouses [etc.].
b. Pyrotechnics. A rocket-case filled with a burning composition, and attached to the circumference of a wheel or the end of a movable arm to communicate motion.
6. Metal-casting. a. A channel or tube for pouring melted metal into a mold. b. The small projecting piece of metal remaining in the aperture through which the liquid metal was poured.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Jet, the sprue of a type, which is broken therefrom when the type is cold.
7. Phrases. At a single jet, at a single effort of the mind; at the first jet, at first impulse. [After F. d’un seul jet, du premier jet.]
1838. Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, xxiv. (1866), II. 20. A long definition is … burthensome … to the understanding, which ought to comprehend it at a single jet.
1880. Times, 19 Jan., 4. It is always desirable that an etching should be a first thought…. A certain spontaneity and freshness seems to belong to all work done at the first jet.
8. A large ladle.
1727. Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Brewing, Mix it again with your Hand Jett.
1742. Lond. & Country Brewer, I. (ed. 4), 50. Others … for Butt or Stout-beer will … mix it once, and beat it again with the Hand-bowl or Jett.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Jet, a very large ladle to empty a cistern.
9. Comb., as jet-hole; jet-like adj.; jet-break, the mark left, as on a metal type, by a jet or sprue when removed after casting; jet-pump, a pump in which fluid is impelled by a jet of air, steam, etc.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Jet-pump.… It acts by the pressure of a column of air passing through an annular throat; or conversely, an annular jet around a central orifice.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 74/1. The most brilliant light from common gas is produced by a burner in which the jet-holes are very numerous.
1883. R. A. Proctor, in 19th Cent., Nov., 876. They have been classified according to the various forms of cloud-like and jet-like prominences.
