Meaning of spring-heeled Jack | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A terrifying man of bizarre appearance and able to make extraordinary leaps, the subject of English folklore of the Victorian era.
   historical
2. Alternative letter-case form of spring-heeled Jack.
   alt-of

Examples

“And he rattled, thumped, brandished his thunderbox, yelled, shouted, raved, roared, stamped, and danced corrobory like any black fellow; and then he touched a spring in the thunderbox, and out popped turnip-ghosts and magic-lanthorns and pasteboard bogies and spring-heeled Jacks and sallaballas […]”

“Servant-girls who have just received their year's wages at Christmas will frequently profess themselves afraid to go home after dusk, because “there are so many o' these Spring-heeled Jacks about.””

“London and Edinburgh had their spring-heeled jacks long before they appeared in Lasswade in Johnny's time. As long ago as 1837 a real, flesh-and-blood ghost in the shape of a spring-heeled jack was caught by a London policeman […]”

CEFR level