jostle
/ˈdʒɒs(ə)l
/verb [with object]
1Push, elbow, or bump against (someone) roughly, typically in a crowd: he was jostled by passengers rushing for the gates [no object]: people jostled against us...
- Within seconds, we were surrounded by police, pushing and jostling us and telling us we couldn't go forward.
- On it, you're constantly jostled, poked, elbowed and stepped on by your boogieing neighbours.
- As I was jostled and bumped into the washroom, I saw a sight that would change my life forever.
Synonyms
bump into/against, knock into/against, bang into, collide with, cannon into, plough into, jolt;
push, shove, elbow, hustle;
mob
North American informal barrel into
push, thrust, barge, shove, force, squeeze, elbow, shoulder, bulldoze
struggle, vie, jockey, scramble, crowd one another
informal scrum
1.1 [no object] (jostle for) Struggle or compete forcefully for: a jumble of images jostled for attention...
- Always painfully aware of their place in the pecking-order, they struggle and jostle for position.
- In a competitive market where hundreds of brand names jostle for attention, several are emerging as the next big thing.
- We're both talkers, forever jostling for the other's ear.
noun [mass noun]
The action of jostling: the jostle of shoppers...
- The resulting jostle of competing versions marks him more than any other poet, even Auden.
- The unpretentious, butter-hued dining room is calm then - underpopulated, even, compared to the Darwinian bray and jostle of jampacked evenings.
- The construction workers wear soft eyes that soak up the morning sun, and the janitors have attentive ears that listen to the jostle of walking mobs.
Origin
Late Middle English justle, from just, an earlier form of joust. The original sense was 'have sexual intercourse with'; current senses date from the mid 16th century.
The early spelling was justle, from just, an earlier form of joust (see adjust). The original sense was ‘have sexual intercourse with’; current senses date from the mid 16th century.