Dictionary

jones en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /d͡ʒoʊnz/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Ed Boland, in an article in March 2002 of the The New York Times, attributes the term to heroin addicts who frequented Great Jones Alley in New York City, off Great Jones Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, although the slang term has obviously been around much longer. Dan Waldorf states that the use of the term, in the sense of addiction, originated among heroin addicts.

Meanings

1. (US, archaic, slang) Heroin.
   • Which erodes "quality of life" faster... debilitating chronic pain or a little jones? 2001, Terminus Est, “Re: Nothing to Fear but Pain Itself”, in alt.support.depression.manic (Usenet):
   • You mean you got a little Jones, huh? Was it good? 1965, Amiri Baraka, The Alternative, as cited in Peter Bruck (ed.), The Black American Short Story in the 20th Century, John Benjamins, p. 196
   • You seem like a smart kid, and dont get me wrong here, we dont want to see you all fucked up, cracked out butt naked on 4th street in the bad side of town, lookin to fuck the 1st millionaire willing to fork over some jones money. 2000, Priest Opiast Ogden, “Re: Questions about Percocet, Ativan & Xanax”, in alt.drugs.hard (Usenet):
   • Defendant responded by saying he had some "Jones", a term used to describe heroin. 1975, unknown author, Northwestern Reporter, page 512:
2. (US, slang) An addiction or intense craving.
   • "On the Deuce," he said, "everybody got a jones. They got a crack jones or a smack jones, ..." 1992, Lawrence Block, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, HarperCollins, page 93:
   • And I went through a kind of withdrawal jones thing and drank a bunch and then took a Valium, and it comes in waves. 1992, Anonymous as cited in Dan Waldorf, Cocaine Changes, Temple University Press, p. 126
   • I’ve got a basketball jones!
   • ... I've got a jones," and she dropped her head. 1965, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land, MacMillan, page 262:
   • If you have a jones for one of these old tape-tanglers but lack the cash, space, and/or patience necessary to acquire, house and maintain one, consider M-Tron. 2003, Ken Hughes, edited by Jim Aikin, Software Synthesizers: The Definitive Guide to Virtual Musical Instruments, Backbeat Books, page 64:

Forms

Deriveds

love jones

Translations (2)

de Sucht (intense craving) · de Verlangen (intense craving)

wikipedia: Great Jones Street · wikipedia: The New York Times

jones en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /d͡ʒoʊnz/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Ed Boland, in an article in March 2002 of the The New York Times, attributes the term to heroin addicts who frequented Great Jones Alley in New York City, off Great Jones Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, although the slang term has obviously been around much longer. Dan Waldorf states that the use of the term, in the sense of addiction, originated among heroin addicts.

Meanings

1. (US, followed by for, slang, transitive, usually) To have an intense craving for something.
   • The rain tree at sunset was exquisite, but after a few minutes Pender found himself jonesing for a football game. 2007, Jonathan Nasaw, Twenty-Seven Bones, Simon & Schuster, page 258:
   • I’m jonesing for some basketball.
   • ... when it's their turn to talk, they speak in coonass blue-collar accents about jonesing for crack and getting UA-ed by probation officers. 1995, James Lee Burke, Burning Angel, Hyperion, page 126:
   • A lot of people they be jonesing just to hear me rock the mic / They'll be staring at the radio, staying up all night 1989, Beastie Boys, Shake Your Rump, 0:06:
   • If you jones for wheat grass, this is your destination. 2001, Sheridan Becker, Jayne Young, Savvy in the City: New York City, page 3:
   • “I have to go now,” she’d say to the grocery clerk. “My mother-in-law is back at the house, jonesing for her lunch.” 1997, David Sedaris, “True Detective”, in Naked:
   • Caramel colors and aspartame Phosphoric acid, potassium Natural flavors, of course caffeine And now I'm jonesin' for MSG 2006, J. G. Thirlwell, “Sieve”, in Damp, performed by Foetus:
2. (US, intransitive, slang) To binge on cocaine or alcohol.

Forms

Translations (4)

ru жела́ть (Have an intense craving) · de lechzen (Have an intense craving) · ru жажда́ть (Have an intense craving) · de gieren (Have an intense craving)

wikipedia: Great Jones Street · wikipedia: The New York Times

jones en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /d͡ʒoʊnz/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Meanings

1. (form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person) third-person singular simple present indicative of jone
   form of jone