▪ I. gib, n.1 Obs. exc. in Comb.
(gɪb)
Forms: 4–7 gibb(e, 6–7 gyb, 5– gib.
[A familiar abbreviation of Gilbert.]
1. A familiar name given to a cat. to play fy gib (? to say ‘fie’ to the cat), to utter threats, to look threateningly.
| c 1400 Inscr. in Proc. Soc. Antiq. (1886) 11 Mar., Gret: wel: gibbe: oure: cat. c 1400 Rom. Rose 6204 For right no mo than Gibbe [Fr. Tibers] our cat. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. (1832) 13 Scantly had they drunken once or twise, When in came Gib-Hunter our joly Cat. a 1529 [see cat 1 b]. 1575 Gamm. Gurton i. v, Gyb our cats two eyes..Gyb shut her two eyes. Ibid. iii. iii, Mary fy on thee, thou old gyb, with al my very hart. 1640 Bastwick Lord Bps. viii. I j, He playes fy gib with his thunderbolt of Excommunication. |
2. A cat, esp. a male cat (cf. Gib a male ferret in Chester Gloss.); in later dialectal use, one that has been castrated. to play the gib: (of a woman) to act the cat (see cat and dog).
| 1561 Schole-ho. Wom. 508 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 124 Nature she foloweth, and playeth the gib, And at her husband dooth barke and ba[w]ll, As dooth the Cur. 1600 Dr. Dodypoll iii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 129 This is Melpomene, that Scottish witch, Whom I will scratche like to some villanous gibb. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 190 Who..Would..from a Bat, a Gibbe, Such deere concernings hide? a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. of Malta v. ii, Wee'l call him Cacodemon, with his block gib there. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. viii. §1. 199 Male..Dog, Gib, Cock, [etc.]. 1804 J. Duncumb Herefordsh. I. 213 Gib, a male cat, castrated. |
3. A term of reproach, esp. for an old woman.
| a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 99 She is a tonnish gyb. 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep. xiii. 104 Call me, Beldam, Gib, Witch, Night-mare, Trot. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iv. ii, 'Faith gib, are you spitting? I'le cut your tayle pus-cat for this. a 1687 Cotton Poet. Wks. (1765) 122 And humbly the old Gib beseeches To shew her utmost Skill and Cunning. |
4. gib-cat = sense 2. Now only arch. and dial.
| 1596, 1667, 1785 [see cat 1 b]. 1820 Lamb Elia Ser. i. S. Sea Ho., Melancholy as a gib-cat over his counter all the forenoon. 1895 Crockett Men of Mosshags 103, I declare I purred like our gib cat. |
Hence † ˈgibship jocular, the personality of a cat. (In quot. applied to a woman.)
| 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady v. i, Bring out the Cat hounds, Ile make you take a tree whore, then with my tyller Bring downe your Gibship. |
▪ II. † gib, n.2 Obs.
Also 5 gybbe.
[a. OF. gibbe, gibe, ad. L. gibba.]
1. A hump.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 280/1 Knobbe yn a beestys backe or breste, þat ys clepyd a gybbe. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 192 Camells..varie according to the Countrie they breed in: in..Persia they have but one gib or bunch, the Arabian is doubled. |
2. A bale (of cloth, etc.).
| 1526 in Dillon Calais & Pale (1893) 81 Item, of a gybbe of Wollen clothe outwardes ij{supd}. |
▪ III. gib, n.3
(gɪb)
Also 6 gibbe, 9 gibb.
[Of obscure origin; cf. kip, kebbie.]
† 1. An iron hook. Obs.—1
| 1567 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 278 A rosting Iron, a pair of gibbes, iij pair of pott clipps. |
2. (See quots.)
| 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. II. Gloss. (E.D.S.) Gib (the g hard, as in gild), a hook; a gibby stick, a hooked stick. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Gib, a wooden hook... A nutting gib, a nutting hook. |
3. The hooked gristle which grows at the end of the lower jaw of a male salmon after spawning; = kip. Also Comb., as gib-fish, a salmon with a ‘gib’. (Otherwise explained in quot. 1867.)
| 1818 Sporting Mag. I. 290 At the end of his lower chop, there grows a hard boney gib, from which they are then called the gib-fish. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Gibb, the beak, or hooked upper lip of a male salmon. Ibid., Gib-fish, a northern name for the male of a salmon. |
4. Comb., as † gib-crook = sense 1; gib-staff (see quots.); gib-stick = sense 2.
| 1564 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 223 One payre of toynges, *gibcrokes, rakincroke, and racks xxs. |
| 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words (E.D.S.), *Gibstaff, a quarter-staff. 1721 in Bailey. 1847 Craig, Gibstaff, a staff to gauge water or to push a boat; formerly, the name of a weapon used in fighting beasts on the stage. |
| 1876 Whitby Gloss. s.v., A *gib stick, a stick that is bent-headed. |
▪ IV. gib, n.4 slang.
(dʒɪb)
[Said to be short form of Gibraltar.]
A prison.
| 1877 5 Yrs.' Penal Servit. iii. 221, I did a lagging of seven, and was at the Gib. three out of it. |
▪ V. gib, n.5
(dʒɪb, gɪb)
[Of obscure origin; cf. jib n.2, gibbet n.1]
1. A piece of wood or metal employed to keep something else, e.g. some part of a machine, in place. a. A bolt, pin, or wedge for insertion in a hole, to fasten the adjoining parts more tightly together.
gib and cotter, gib and key: a two-part contrivance, consisting of a fixed and a movable wedge, used to tighten the strap at the end of a connecting rod.
| 1795 W. Felton Treat. Carriages II. 221 Gib, a small half round wedge, which keeps the pole from rising. 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 150/1 The corners were secured by a strong iron strap with a gib and key. 1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Eng. 78 The rectangular hole for the gib and cutter. a 1865 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. (1867) 339 Gib, a forelock. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 732/1 The pin is sometimes rectangular in section, and tapered or parallel lengthwise. ‘Gibs’ and ‘cottars’ are examples of the latter. 1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Draw. 49 The gib is provided with horns at its ends to keep it in its place. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 91 The gib and cottar arrangement is that in which the cottar is formed in two parts, whose outer faces are parallel with each other, the requisite taper being given to their inner or sliding faces. |
b. A bearing surface to reduce friction, or a wedge to take up wear at a sliding contact.
| 1873 J. Richards Treat. Wood-working Machines 13 Gibs of lignum vitæ will be found to wear well. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. 650/1 The box has two taper-cheeks a a and two taper-gibs b b adjustable by screws, so as to set up the boxing to the wrist and the cheeks to the guides in the cross-head. |
c. (See quot.)
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 402/2 The extractor [in a Maxim gun] is recessed to take a movable plate termed a ‘gib’, behind which is a spring. |
2. Mining. A piece of wood used to support the roof of a coalmine.
| 1847 in Halliwell. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 172 Gib, a wooden prop used to support the coal when being ‘holed’. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m., Gib, a short prop of timber by which the coal is supported whilst being holed or undermined. |
3. attrib. and Comb.: gib-head, a head (of a rod, pin, etc.) with projecting shoulder(s); gib-headed key (see quot.).
| 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 152 The opposite ends of the connecting-rods are provided..with gib-heads. 1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Draw. 23 When the point of a key is inaccessible the other end is provided with gib-head. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., Gib-headed key, a key having a set-off standing at right angles with the thicker end, for convenience of drawing it back in situations where the use of a drift is not practicable. |
▪ VI. † gib, v.1 Obs.—0
[f. gib n.1]
intr. To behave like a gib or cat. Hence † ˈgibbing vbl. n.
| 1621 Beaum. & Fl. Wild-Goose Chase iv. iii. (1652) 44 Out Kitlings What Catterwalling's here? what gibbing? |
▪ VII. gib, v.2
(gɪb)
[var. gip.]
trans. To disembowel (fish); = gip. Also Comb., as gib-tub (see quot.). Hence ˈgibber, one who disembowels fish.
| 1883 Chamb. Jrnl. 271 In the centre another man gibbing or eviscerating the fish. 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., Gib⁓tub, a tray in which fish are laid to be gibbed or disemboweled. |
▪ VIII. gib, v.3
(dʒɪb, gɪb)
[f. gib n.5]
trans. To provide or secure with a gib or gibs. Hence gibbed ppl. a.
| a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 398/1 Gibbed lathe, a lathe, the carriage of which has a bar which grips beneath the overhang of the bed, beneath which it is secured by a wedge known as a gib, to prevent the riding up of the carriage. 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., Gibbed way, a guiding surface provided with gibs for adjustment. |
▪ IX. gib
var. jib n. and v.