Other forms: jostling, jostled, jostles
To jostle is to push against people in a crowd. Jostled on the platform, jostling for position, jostle through.
The pushing is incidental rather than aimed — being jostled is not being attacked. Jostle for position is the common figurative use, of rivals competing. The word comes from joust, so the pushing was once done on horseback with a lance.
1verbjostleTo push against people in a crowd.
“Fans jostled each other at the stage door to catch a glimpse of the singer.”
jostle is a pushing.
A frequentative of joust, from Old French joster, from Latin iuxta, next to.
Latin
iuxtā — next to
Old French
joster — to joust
Middle English
jousten
English, today
jostle
Built from
Originally justle (“to have sex with”), formed from Middle English jousten, from the Old French joster (“to joust”), from Latin iuxtā (“next to”), from iungō (“join, connect”), equivalent to joust + le.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA