I. ˈjib noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : a triangular sail set upon a stay or its own luff and extending from the head of the foremast or fore-topmast to the bowsprit or the jibboom — see sail illustration
2. dialect England : the lower lip or jaw
II. verb
( jibbed ; jibbed ; jibbing ; jibs )
transitive verb
: to cause to swing (as a sail or yard) from one side of a sailing vessel to another (as in tacking)
intransitive verb
1. : to shift across or swing round from one side of a vessel to the other — used of a ship's sail, yard, or boom
2. : to shift or swing in a way resembling jibbing
the value of dollars, francs, and pounds sterling jibbing this way and that — Time
black umbrellas milled and jibbed everywhere — William Sansom
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably by shortening & alteration from gibbet
: the projecting arm of a crane ; also : a derrick boom
IV. intransitive verb
also gib “
( jibbed also gibbed ; jibbed also gibbed ; jibbing also gibbing ; jibs also gibs )
Etymology: probably from jib (II)
1. : to move restively backward or sidewise : refuse to go ; also : to stop short or back out : shy — used of an animal in harness
2.
a. : to show hesitation or a tendency to refuse to proceed further or act in a particular way : balk
he jibbed on singing because the women were there — Joseph Furphy
never jibbed at the stiffest climb — Roy Saunders
b. : to show objection : balk in opposition
it was only the middle classes at which he jibbed for he was genuinely devoted to his servants — Eric Keown
jibbed at all grief which could not be brushed aside — Elizabeth Taylor
we are swallowing monsters that we should have jibbed at if they had been offered us by an imaginative and flamboyant traveler — Virginia Woolf
Synonyms: see demur
V. noun
( -s )
: jibber