jumping-jack

jumping-jack (plural jumping-jacks)

1. Alternative form of jumping jack.
   • 1879, William James, Are We Automata?:

     In the beheaded frog the legs twitch as fatally when we touch the skin with acid as do a jumping-jack's when we pull the string.

   • 1904, L. Frank Baum, chapter 13, in The Marvelous Land of Oz:

     "Because you are built as absurdly as a jumping-jack," sneered the horse, rolling his knotty eyes in a vicious manner. "Even your head won't stay straight, and you never can tell whether you are looking backwards or forwards!"

   • 1904, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 14, in The Bobbsey Twins, Or, Merry Days Indoors and Out:

     "I have a jumping-jack!" came from Freddie, and he began to work the toy up and down in a most comical fashion.