gibe 
Mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns 
That dwell in every region of his face. 
Shak., Othello, iv. 1. 
With solemn gibe did Eustace banter me. 
Tennyson, Gardener's Daughter. 
When it was said of the court of Frederic that the place 
of king's atheist was vacant, the fribe was felt as the most 
biting sarcasm. Bancroft, Hist. TJ. S., I. 360. 
= Syn. Taunt, jeer, sneer, fleer, insult, reproach. 
gibe' 2 (jib), v. Naut. See jibe 1 . 
gibeciere (zhe-be-si-ar'), n. Same as gipser. 
gibel (gib'el), n. [< G. gibel, giebel, a certain fish 
(as defined), a kind of chub, < MHG. gebel, OHG. 
gebal, the head, OHG. gibilla, skull : see under 
gable^.] The so-called Prussian carp, Caras- 
sius vulgaris or gibelio, having no barbules, sup- 
posed to have been introduced into Great Brit- 
ain from Germany. It is a good table-fish, but 
seldom weighs more than half a pound. 
Gibeline, n. See Ghibelline. 
gibelio (gi-be'li-6), n. [NL. : see gibel.'] Same 
as gibel. 
Gibeonite (gib'e-on-it), n. [< Gibeon, a city in 
Palestine, + -jte 2 .'] 1. One of the inhabitants 
of Gibeon, who were condemned by Joshua to 
be hewers of wood and drawers of water for 
the Israelites. Hence 2. A slave's slave ; a 
workman's laborer ; a farmer's drudge. 
And Giles must trudge, whoever gives command ; 
A Gibeonite, that serves them all by turn. 
Bloomfield, Farmer's Boy, Spring. 
giber, jiber (ji'ber), n. One who utters gibes. 
Come, Sempronia, leave him; 
He is a giber, and our present business 
Is of more serious consequence. 
B. Joruon, Catiline, iii. 3. 
giberaltert, . A cant or capricious term, of 
vague meaning, occurring only in the follow- 
ing extract, probably with some reference to 
Gibraltar in Spain. 
Let me cling to your flanks, my nimble giberalters. 
Merry Devil of Edmonton. 
giberne (zhe-bern'), n. [F., a cartridge-box.] 
A sort of bag in which grenadiers formerly 
held their hand-grenades, worn like a powder- 
flask. Wilhelm, Mil. Diet. 
gib-fish (gib'fish), w. The male salmon. [North. 
Eng.] 
gibiert (F. pron. zhe-bia'), n. [Also written 
gibbier; < OF. gibier, gibbier, F. gibier, game, 
fowl.] Wild fowl; game. 
These imposts are laid on all butcher's meat, while, at 
the same time, the fowl and gibbier are tax-free. 
Addison, Travels in Italy. 
gibingly, jibingly (jl'bing-li), adv. In a gibing 
manner. 
But your loves, 
Thinking upon his services, took from you 
The apprehension of his present portance, 
Which most gibingly, ungravely, he did fashion. 
Shak., Cor., ii. 3. 
gib-keeler (gib'ke"ler), . Same as gib-tub. 
giblet (jib'let), n. and a. [< ME. gibelet, < OF. 
gibelet, the entrails of fowls (cf. F. gibelotte, 
stewed rabbit); cf. gibier, wild fowl.] I. n. 
1. A part removed or trimmed away from a 
fowl when it is prepared for roasting, as the 
heart, liver, gizzard, neck, ends of wings and 
legs, etc., often used in pies, stews, etc. : usu- 
ally in the plural. 
It shall not, like the table of a country-justice, be 
sprinkled over with all manner of cheap salads, sliced 
beef, giblets, and pettitoes, to fill up room. 
Beau, and Ft., Woman-Hater, i. 2. 
2. pi. Bags; tatters. [Bare.] 
II. a. Made of giblets: as, a giblet pie or 
stew. 
giblet-check, giblet-cheek (jib'let-chek, 
-chek), n. A rebate round the reveals of a 
doorway or gateway, for the reception of a 
door or gate intended to open outward, so that 
the outer face of the door or gate will be flush 
with the face of the wall. Also written jiblet- 
check, jiblet-cheek. [Scotch.] 
Gibraltar (ji-bral'tar), . [Short for Gibraltar 
rock, a name applied to hard candy, in allusion 
to the Hock of Gibraltar, a celebrated fortress 
belonging to Great Britain, at the entrance of 
the Mediterranean.] 1. A kind of candy: same 
as Gibraltar rock. 2. A kind of sugar-candy 
made in short thick sticks with rounded ends. 
[U. S.] Gibraltar monkey. Same as Barbani ape 
(which see, under ape). Gibraltar rock, rock-candy. 
gibshipt (gib'ship), n. [< gttft + -skip.] The 
quality of being a gib-cat : ludicrously used as 
a title of address. 
Bring out the cat-hounds, I'le bring down your gib-ship. 
Beau, and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 1. 
gibstaff (jib'staf), n. ; pi. gibstaves (-stavz). [< 
gib 1 + staff.] 1. A staff with which to gage 
2509 
water or push a boat. 2. A staff formerly used 
in fighting beasts on the stage. 
gib-tub (gib'tub), . [< gilt* + tub.] A tray 
in which fish are placed to be gibbed or gutted. 
Also gib-keeler, gip-tub. [New Eng. and Nova 
Scotia.] 
Gichtelian (gich-te'li-an), n. [< Gichtel (see 
def.) + -ian.] A follower of J. G. Gichtel 
(1638-1710), a German mystic. The oichtelians 
were until recently found in small numbers in partsof the 
Netherlands and of Germany. They called themselves An- 
gelic Brethren, as having already attained a state of an- 
gelic purity, through the rejection of marriage. 
gid 1 (gid), n. [Assumed from giddy, q. v.] Stag- 
gers in sheep, a disease caused by a cystic worm 
in the brain, formerly called Catnurus cerebralis, 
now known to be the larva of the dog's tape- 
worm, Tcenia ccenurus. Also called giddiness 
and sturdy. 
Sheep are afflicted by a disease known as the gid, or 
staggers. The animal goes round and round; its power 
to walk straight ahead is lost. This curious effect is pro- 
duced by the presence of a hydatid . . . known under 
the name of Coenurus cerebralis. Stand. Nat. Hist., I. 201. 
gid 2 (jid), n. [Also gidd, jid, and in comp. jed- 
cock, judcock; origin obscure.] The jack-snipe. 
Montagu. [Local, Eng.] 
giddedt, a. [<gidd(y) + -ed%.] Dazed with fear. 
In hast they runne, and mids their race they stale, 
As gidded roe. Stir, for Hags., p. 418. 
giddily (gid'i-li), adv. [< ME. gideliche, fool- 
ishly; < giddy + -ly 2 .] 1. In a light, foolish 
manner; flightily; heedlessly: as, to chatter or 
carry on giddily. 2. In a dizzying manner; so 
as to cause giddiness or vertigo. 
How giddily he [Fashion] turns about all the hot bloods, 
between fourteen and flve-and-thirty ! 
Shak., Much Ado, iii. 3. 
Your Beauties so dazle the Sight, 
That lost in Amaze, 
I giddily gaze, 
Confus'd and o'erwhelm'd with a Torrent of Light. 
Congreve, Judgment of Paris. 
3. Inconstantly; unsteadily; with various turn- 
ings. 
To roam 
Giddily, and he everywhere but at home 
Such freedom doth a banishment become. Donne. 
giddiness (gid'i-nes), n. 1. The character or 
quality of being giddy or foolish ; levity; flight- 
iness; heedlessness ; inconstancy; unsteadi- 
ness. 
Fear of your unbelief, and the time's giddiness, 
Made me I durst not then go farther. 
Fletcher (and another'!), Prophetess, i. 1. 
The Popish Plot . . . began now sensibly to dwindle, 
thro' the folly, knavery, impudence, and giddiness of Gates. 
Evelyn, Diary, June 18, 1683. 
2. The state or condition of being giddy or 
dizzy; a swimming of the head; dizziness; 
vertigo. 
Sometimes it [betel-nut] will cause great giddiness in 
the Head of those that are not us'd to chew it. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 319. 
The change of our perceptions and thoughts to be pleas- 
ing must not be too rapid ; for as the intervals when too 
long produce the feeling of tedium, so when too short they 
cause that of giddiness or vertigo. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph., xlv. 
3. Same as gidi. 
giddisht, a. [< gidd(y) + -isftl.] Foolish. 
The people cawle thee giddishe mad ; 
Why, all the world is so. 
Drant, tr. of Horace's Satires, iii. 
giddy (gid'i), a. [< ME. gidie, gidi, gydie, gydi, 
foolish (not ' dizzy ' in the physical sense ; so 
dizzy orig. meant 'foolish') ; origin obscure ; the 
alleged AS. "gidig (Somner) is not found, and 
there is nothing to connect E. giddy with AS. 
giddian, sing, recite, speak, < gid, gidd, a song, 
poem, saying.] 1 . Foolishly light or frivolous ; 
governed by wild or thoughtless impulses; 
manifesting exuberant spirits or levity ; flighty ; 
heedless. 
Our fancies are more giddy and unflrm . . . 
Than women's are. Shak., T. N., ii. 4. 
Hot. Come, quick, quick ; that I may lay my head in 
thy lap. 
Lady P. Go, ye giddjrgoose. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 
Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are warm, 
And make mistakes for manhood to reform. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 444. 
2. Characterized by or indicating giddiness or 
levity of feeling. 
Yet would this giddy innovation fain 
Down with it lower, to abuse it quite. 
Daniel, Musophilus. 
She said twenty giddy things that looked like joy, and 
then laughed loud at her own want of meaning. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, xix. 
3. Affected with vertigo, or a swimming sensa- 
tion in the head, causing liability to reel or fall ; 
gift 
dizzy; reeling: as, to be giddy from fever or 
drunkenness, or in looking down from a great 
height. 
I grow giddy while I gaze. 
Congreve, Paraphrase upon Horace, I. xix. 1. 
His voice fell 
Like music which makes giddy the dim brain. 
Shelley, Prometheus Unbound, ii. 1. 
4. Adapted to cause or to suggest giddiness ; of 
a dizzy or dizzying nature ; acting or causing 
to act giddily. 
As we pac'd along 
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches. 
Shak., Rich. III., i. 4. 
The wretch shall feel 
The giddy motion of the whirling mill. 
Pope, R. of the L., ii. 134. 
= Syn. land 2. Careless, reckless, headlong, flighty, hare- 
brained, light-headed. 
giddy (gid'i), v. ; pret. and pp. giddied, ppr. gid- 
dying. [< giddy, a.] I. trans. To make dizzy 
or unsteady. 
He is a quiet and peaceable man, who is not moved when 
all things else are ; not shaken with fear, not giddied with 
suspicion. Farindon, Sermons (1657), p. 423. 
II. intrans. To turn quickly; reel. 
Had not by chance a sodaine North wind fetcht, 
With an extreme sea, quite about againe, 
Our whole endeuours ; and our course constraine 
To giddie round. Chapman, Odyssey, ix. 
My head swims, my brain giddies, I am getting old, 
Margaret. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 6. 
giddy-head (gid'i-hed), n. A giddy, frivolous 
person ; one without serious thought or sound 
judgment. 
A company of giddy-headsvrlM take upon them to divine 
how many shall be saved, and who damned in a parish ; 
where they shall sit in heaven ; interpret apocalypses; and 
precisely set down when the world shall come to an end, 
what year, what month, what day. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 677. 
giddy-headed (gid'i-hed"ed), a. Haying a gid- 
dy head; frivolous; volatile; incautious. 
giddy-paced (gid'i-past), a. Having a giddy 
pace ; moving irregularly ; reeling ; nighty. 
llethought it did relieve my passion much : 
More than light airs and recollected terms, 
Of these most brisk and giddy-paced times. 
Shak., T. N., Ii. 4. 
giddy-pate (gid'i-pat), n. Same as giddy-head. 
giddy-pated (gid'i-pa"ted), a. Same as giddy- 
headed. 
gie 1 (ge), v, ; pret. ga, gae, or gied, pp. gien, ppr. 
gieing. A dialectal (northern English and 
Scotch) form of give 1 . 
A towd ma my sins, an's toithe were due, an' I gied it in 
bond. Tennyson, Northern Farmer, O. S. 
gie 2 t, " and n. 
gier-eaglet (jer'e"gl), n. [< D. gier = G. geier, 
a vulture (see gerfalcon), + E. eagle.] A bird 
mentioned in the authorized version of Levit- 
icus xi. 18 (vulture in the revised version), sup- 
posed to be the Neophron percnopterus. 
These ... ye shall have in abomination among the 
fowls : . . . the swan, and the pelican, and the gier-eagle. 
Lev. xi. 18. 
gies(ges),.pZ. [Pacific islands.] Strong mats 
made of bark or other material, worn by native 
boatmen in the Pacific as a protection from 
rain. Simmonds. 
gieseckite (ge'zek-it), n. [Named after Charles 
Gieseck or Giesecke, whose original name was 
Metzler (born about 1760, died 1833), an actor, 
playwright, mineralogist, etc.] A mineral oc- 
curring in hexagonal prisms of a greenish-gray 
or brown color. It is ahydrated silicate of aluminium, 
sodium, and potassium, and is supposed to have been de- 
rived from the alteration of nepheline. 
gif (gif ), conj. An obsolete or dialectal (Scotch) 
form of if. 
Gif I have failyeit, baldlie repreif my ryme. 
Gavin Douglas, Pref. to tr. of Virgil. 
Your brother's mistress, 
Qif she can be reclaimed ; gif not, his prey ! 
B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 1. 
giff-gaff (gif 'gaf ), n. [E. dial, and So., a varied 
redupl. of give^. Cf. gewgaw.] Mutual or re- 
ciprocal giving and taking ; mutual obligation ; 
tit for tat. 
Oi/-gaf makes good fellowship. Proverb. 
Gi/e-ga/e was a good fellow, this Gi/e-gafe led them 
clean from justice. 
Latimer, 3d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
giffin (jif'in), . Same as jiffy. 
giffy, n. See jiffy. 
gift (gift), n. [< ME. gift, commonly gift, geft, 
a gift (the lit. sense not found in AS.), < AS. 
gift, nearly always in pi. gifta, & marriage, nup- 
tials (= OFries. ieft, iefta, a gift, grant, = D. 
gift, a gift, = MLG. gifte, a gift, bequest, = 
OHG. MHG. gift, a gift (G. Dan. Sw. in comp. ; 
