DJ

1 of 3

noun

ˈdē-ˌjā 

plural DJs

: disc jockey

When they [the Beatles] arrived in the U.S. in 1964, John Lennon spent his first night in New York in his hotel room, calling up radio DJs and asking them to play the Ronettes.

—Rob Sheffield

A hip-hop DJ's roles can be multi-faceted: finding the music for dancing, playing the popular tracks, being the rapper's background band, having, maintaining, and providing the equipment, producing the beats, and not least improvising instrumental solos.

—Kjetil Falkenberg Hansen

—sometimes used as a title in the stage names of disc jockeys

Jeffrey Allen Townes, better known as DJ Jazzy Jeff, is a producer, deejay and actor …

—Greg Bishop

DJ

2 of 3

verb

DJed also DJ'd; DJing; DJs

transitive + intransitive

: to perform the role of a disc jockey : to act as a DJ for

Snoop Dogg has revealed that he turned down [an] offer to DJ a party for Michael Jordan.

—Will Lavin

The distinctiveness of DJing in hip hop started with the development of adroit techniques on two turntables.

—Patrick Rivers

There was a festive vibe as [Herman] Matfes DJ'd the event with fun Hanukkah and holiday music.

—Lani Mustacchi

… Paris Hilton DJed a New Year's Eve party on her own virtual island this year.

—Brad Thomas

DJ

3 of 3

abbreviation

1

district judge

2

doctor of jurisprudence

3

dust jacket

Examples of DJ in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The company continues to focus on its oil and gas exploration and production activities in the DJ Basin of Colorado. —Quartz Bot, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024

But the youngsters' older siblings took costume ideas into their own hands, with Luna rocking a creepy black-and-red clown look while Miles dressed up and dabbed as DJ Marshmello. —Jen Juneau, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024

The roster of guests stumping for Harris also included DJ Jazzy Jeff, Fat Joe and Oprah Winfrey, as well as Ricky Martin, Jazmine Sullivan, Andra Day, DJ D-Nice and the Roots, while twice impeached former President Trump made his final pitch in Pittsburgh. —Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 5 Nov. 2024

In one of the more impressive moments from the set, DJ Jahi Sundance spun vocal samples from Erykah Badu and Thundercat as the band expertly weaved around them. —William E. Ketchum Iii, VIBE.com, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1946, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1948, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

DJ

noun

ˈdē-ˌjā

often not capitalized

: disc jockey