ad-lib, v. orig. U.S.
(ˌædˈlɪb)
[f. prec.]
trans. and intr. To speak extempore; to announce without script, improvise (words, etc.) esp. in the course of a stage or broadcast performance. Hence ad-ˈlibbed ppl. a., improvised; ad-ˈlibber, one who ad-libs; ad-ˈlibbing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1919 F. Hurst Humoresque 265 ‘Easy money, friends,’ Miss Hoag would ad lib. to the line-up outside her railing. 1926 Whiteman & McBride Jazz iii. 73, I remember one day asking one of my English musicians, ‘Can you ad lib?’..‘Certainly,’ answered the man, rather nettled, ‘I can ad lib anything.’ 1927 Sat. Even. Post. 5 Mar. 54/3 The text of musical plays..is much more flexible..and considerable ‘ad libbing’, as impromptu speeches are called, is indulged in. 1929 Bookman (U.S.) Mar. 149/2 ‘Ad⁓libbing’ is improvising. ‘When Jones got lost back stage I had to ad-lib all over the place until he came on.’ 1936 Harper's Mag. 2 Apr. 573/1 The preacher or orator whose message is canned beforehand never reaches the emotional heights of persuasion that his ‘ad libbing’ brother does on a rival rostrum. 1938 Scrutiny VII. 216 It seems much more likely from the extensive ad-libbing (to borrow a word from the Americans) Mr. Roberts allows himself that Hulme's positions were useful to him in working out problems that are preoccupying him. 1939 Adeler & West Remember Fred Karno vi. 69 In the sketch he ‘ad-libbed’ a bit, to use Fred Karno's phrase. 1940 Amer. Speech XV. 65 Fadiman is a carbolic ad libber. 1956 C. W. Mills Power Elite i. 15 The easy ad-libbed gags the celebrity ‘spontaneously’ echoes. 1958 I. Brown Words in Our Time 15 The adlibber in the theatre is one who introduces what are called ‘gags’. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose iii. 95 The whole squadron in the stalls chi-hiking at us and Judy ad⁓libbing back at them across the footlights. |