Wiktionary

jobber

English edit

Etymology edit

job +‎ -er

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

jobber (plural jobbers)

  1. (archaic) One who works by the job (i.e. paid per individual piece of work) and/or recruits other people for such work. [19th c.]
    • 1866 November, “A Visit to the Tailors of the West”, in The Suburban magazine, volume 1, page 99:
      The deponent, in the course of negotiation for sundry jobs, expressed his curiosity repecting the Habits and Life of the Knights of the Thimble, when the jobber to the Nobility and Gentry kindly volunteered to accompny him on a round to some of the great shops of the west.
    • 1875, The Laws of Grenada and the Grenadines, 1766-1875, page 109:
      Every person who shall keep any boat for the purpose aforesaid without having such license, and every owner of, or other person who shall be employed or shall ply for hire in any such boat within the limits aforesaid without having such license or wearing such badge as aforesaid, and every person who shall offer himself as a porter or jobber within the said town of Saint George without having such license or wearing such badge aforesaid, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding forrty shillings.
    • 1898, Public Documents of Massachusetts - Volume 11, page clxviii:
      The jobbing clerk immediately upon receipt of the ticket minuted it properly in the book, and, upon looking at the annunciator, saw that it showed no jobbers in the waiting room; he went at once to the waiting room, but found no one there; he then returned to his own room and called down the speaking-tube to the basement for a jobber, but was told by the boiler tender that no jobber was there. The foreman of the jobbing department was then at his desk, but the clerk did not call his attention to the fact of the complaint or to his failure to find a jobber, nor did he make any further effort to find a jobber or to mention the complaint to any one until about 11.35, when he again called to the basement for a jobber, and ordered the first one who came in to be sent up.
    • 1976, The Industrial Court Reporter, page 499:
      In the Mills there existed a usage under which a worker was first appointed as a Cleaner then an Oiler and thereafter promoted as a Jobber.
  2. (theater) An actor temporarily employed for a specific role, often in a touring company.
    • 1957, Lorna Marie Wildon, A survey of contemporary American musical arena theatres, and an analysis of problems of organization and production:
      Most of the music circuses use jobbers in four to eight of the leading roles for each show. These jobbers are principal actors who are employed for one or two leading roles during the season. There is no difference between a star and a jobber, except that a jobber is not necessarily a "big-name" performer […]
    • 1986, J. Allen, The 1986 Summer Theater Guide, page 83:
      Jobbers are used as needed.
  3. (obsolete, UK, finance) A promoter or broker of stocks for investment.
    An act to restrain the number and ill practice of brokers and stock jobbers: 8 & 9 Wm. 3, ch. 32 (1697) [legislation of English parliament
  4. An intermediary who buys and sells merchandise.
    • 1916 June 14, “25,000 Cigarettes at $1.50 Gross Profit, the Result of Boston Price Cuts: Jobbers Work On Starvation Basis, Despite Increased Cost of Doing Business”, in United States Tobacco Journal, volume 85, page 9:
      We will say "I would rather be an expressman hauling tobacco, cigarettes, et cetera, than be a jobber of such commodities," especially in the city of Boston at the present writing.
    • 1916, Herbert Francis De Bower, John George Jones, Marketing Methods and Salesmanship, page 123:
      In considering the reasons for the manufacturer's growing independence of the jobber we must class them under two heads; first the reasons that might apply to the old-fashioned jobber who has not varied his activities from the historic model, and, second, the reasons that apply only to the jobber who has departed from the old model and has undertaken or abandoned certain activities in an attempt to strengthen his position.
    • 1965, John Boyd Corbin, A Technical Services Manual for Small Libraries, page 2:
      It is usually best to choose a book jobber to handle the bulk of a library's purchases.
    Synonyms: middleman, broker
    1. (US, business) A type of intermediary in the apparel industry, as well as others, who buys excess merchandise from brand owners and manufacturers, and sells to retailers at prices that are 20-70% below wholesale.
    2. (British, finance) A market maker on the stock exchange; a stockjobber.
  5. (professional wrestling slang) A performer whose primary role is to lose to established talent.
    Synonym: jabroni
  6. (slang) A thing (often used in a vague way to refer to something the name of which one cannot recall).

Usage notes edit

Because of the negative connotations of the word jobber, the sense of "intermediary in the apparel industry" has been superseded by the more politically-correct term off-price specialist.

Derived terms edit

References edit

Danish edit

Noun edit

jobber ?

  1. jobber, speculator

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Noun edit

jobber m pl

  1. indefinite plural of jobb

Verb edit

jobber

  1. present tense of jobbe
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