That error can only be caused by one of below things:
1.Your JavaScript file is not being properly loaded into your page
2.You have JavaScript running before the page is fully loaded, and as such, before jQuery is fully loaded.
Please make sure you include Jquery js file before using Jquery function, means first include file in your page header should be Jquery JS
<head runat="server">
<script src="JavaScript/jquery-1.6.1.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
Please share your code snippet if it does not reslove your problem