JIG


Meaning of JIG in English

I. ˈjig noun

( -s )

Etymology: probably from Middle French giguer to dance, jig, gambol about, frolic, from gigue fiddle, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German gīga fiddle; akin to Old Norse geiga to turn aside — more at gig

1.

a. : any of several lively springy dances in triple rhythm, popular in 16th and 17th century England and Scotland and still commonly danced in Ireland in a way characterized by intricate and dexterous motions of the feet

b. : music to which a jig may be danced

c. : gigue 3

d. : a rapid usually jerky up-and-down or to-and-fro motion

the jig of popcorn in a popper

2. obsolete

a. : a lively usually jesting or mocking song

b. : a lively or comic act used at the end of a play or as an interlude

3. : trick , stratagem , game — now used chiefly in the phrase the jig is up

4.

a. : any of several fishing devices (as a spoon hook) that are jerked up and down or drawn through the water — compare squid

b. : a device used to maintain mechanically the correct positional relationship between a piece of work and the tool working on it or between parts of work during their assembly

c. : a device in which crushed ore is concentrated or coal is cleaned in water by a rapid reciprocating vertical motion imparted to the substance either by mechanical means or by a pulsating water column

d. : a machine for dyeing piece goods by passing them at full width through the dye liquor by means of rollers

5. also jigg “ : negro — often taken to be offensive

- in jig time

II. verb

( jigged ; jigged ; jigging ; jigs )

Etymology: probably from Middle French giguer

transitive verb

1. : to dance in the rapid and lively manner of a jig

jig a morris

2.

a. : to give a rapid jerky up-and-down or to-and-fro motion to

jigged his feet — Michael McLaverty

a handful of coins that he rattled by jigging his thumb along the table — Saul Bellow

: cause to jib

grabbed a girl and started to jig her around the yard — C.T.Jackson

b. : to separate (as ore from gangue or coal from slate) by a rapid up-and-down motion usually in water

3. : to catch (a fish) with a jig or by jerking a hook into the body

4. : to drill (as a well) with a spring pole

5. : to machine, form, or set in place gy means of a jig-controlled tool operation

intransitive verb

1.

a. : to dance a jig : execute a lively dance or dance step

b. : to more with a jigging motion or with rapid usually jerky motions up and down or to and fro

jigged furiously up and down to limber his leg muscles — A.J.Liebling

2. : to fish with a jig

several men in canoes jigging for cod — N.C.McDonald

3. : to work with the aid of a jig

III.

— a communications code word for the letter j

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.