Joe

/d͡ʒəʊ/ · noun

Meaning

(informal) A male; a guy; a fellow..

Definitions by Sense

1. (informal) A male; a guy; a fellow.
2. (UK, slang) A spy, especially a double agent.
3. (historical) Synonym of johannes (“An old Portuguese gold coin bearing a figure of John V of Portugal.”).
4. (chiefly US, informal) Coffee.
5. (Scotland) Alternative form of jo (“a darling or sweetheart”).

Example Sentences

I'm just an ordinary joe.

Name me a joe in a bad country ... who doesn't fall for a pretty face if she's on his side against the world.

Soviet troops were permitted to enter the American sector, where they could easily capture and torture an agent to confirm the existence of a Joe house, then cripple American espionage efforts by kidnapping a nest of spies in one fell swoop.

Then Hapgood turned him into a joe — that is, he works for the British.

Lamb didn't look any different, was still a soft fat rude bastard, still dressed like he'd been thrown through a charity shop window, but Jesus, River thought—Lamb was a joe.

I have seen doubloons before now in my voyagings; your doubloons of old Spain, your doubloons of Peru, your doubloons of Chili, your doubloons of Bolivia, your doubloons of Popayan; with plenty of gold moidores and pistoles, and joes, and half joes, and quarter joes.

Guineas, joes, half joes, doubloons, and pistoles of various origin constituted the gold currency, while the silver was mostly the Spanish American dollar and its fractions: the half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth, with the pistareen and half pistareen.

In the olden time the currency, you know, was a l^([sic]) in gold and silver, joes, half-joes (Johannes), pistoles, moidores, doubloons, pistareens, ninepences (12+¹⁄₂ cents), and fourpence-half-pennies (6+¹⁄₄ cents) or “fippenny-bits.”

Synonyms for joe

Antonyms for joe

Related Words

Word Forms

• joes
• Joe

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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