verb (used with or without object), gybed, gyb·ing, noun
verb (used without object), jibed, jib·ing.
- to shift from one side to the other when running before the wind, as a fore-and-aft sail or its boom.
- to alter course so that a fore-and-aft sail shifts in this manner.
verb (used with object), jibed, jib·ing.
- to cause to jibe.
noun
- the act of jibing.
verb
- (intr) (of a fore-and-aft sail) to shift suddenly from one side of the vessel to the other when running before the wind, as the result of allowing the wind to catch the leech
- to cause (a sailing vessel) to gybe or (of a sailing vessel) to undergo gybing
noun
- an instance of gybing
verb, noun
- nautical variants of gybe
verb
- a variant spelling of gibe 1
verb
- (intr) informal to agree; accord; harmonize
alternative spelling of jibe.
“agree, fit,” 1813, of unknown origin, perhaps a figurative extension of earlier jib, gybe (v.) “shift a sail or boom” (see jib). OED, however, suggests a phonetic variant of chime, as if meaning “to chime in with, to be in harmony.” Related: Jibed; jibes; jibing.
1560s, perhaps from Middle French giber “to handle roughly,” or an alteration of gaber “to mock.”