gib 
cat, like mod. E. Tom, and finally regarded as 
a common (generic) name. So in comp. gib-cat, 
q. v. Cf. Tom, a name for a cat, tom-cat; Dob- 
bin, a name for a horse, etc. ; Reynard, a fox, 
etc.] A familiar name for a cat; hence, as a 
generic name, any cat, especially an old cat: 
commonly used for the male. 
For right no more than Gibbe, our cat [tr. F. Thibert le cos], 
That awaiteth mice and rattes to killen, 
Ne eutende I but to begilen. Mom. of the Rose, 1. 6204. 
Ere Oib, our cat, can lick her ear. 
Peele, Edward I. 
For who that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise, 
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib, 
Such dear concernings hide? Shak., Hamlet, ill. 4. 
gib 2 (gib), v. ; pret. and pp. gibbed, ppr gibbing. 
[< gib 2 , n. In the sense of 'castrate,' perhaps 
a reduction of glib in that sense : see glib 3 . ] I.f 
intrans. To behave like a cat. 
What caterwauling's here ? what gibbing ? 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, 1. 2. 
E[. trans. If. To castrate, as a cat. 
As melancholy as a gi bb'd cat. Uowell's Eng. Prov. , p. 10. 
I have lived these fifty yearea with my old Lord, and 
truly no body ever died in my armes before, but your Lord- 
ship's gibb'd Cat. 
Oai/ton, Notes on Don Quixote (1664), p. 229. 
2. To eviscerate or disembowel, as a fish. Also 
gip. [New Eng. and Nova Scotia.] 
gibber 1 (gib'er), v. i. [Also in comp. gibber- 
gabber and gibble-gabble, reduplications, with 
the usual variation of vowel, of gabber 1 and gab- 
ble (which are assibilated in jabber anAjabble), 
freq. forms of gab 1 , q. v.] To speak inarticu- 
lately ; speak incoherently or senselessly. 
The sheeted dead 
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 1. 
The floor covered with maskers, gibbering in falsetto, 
dancing, capering, coquetting till daylight. 
The Century, XXX. 209. 
gibber 2 (gib'er), n. r<gibV,v.] One who guts or 
eviscerates fish. [New Eng. and Nova Scotia.] 
gibber 3 (gib'er), . [L., < gibbus, hunched, gib- 
bous: see gibbous.'] In bot., a pouch-like en- 
largement of the base of a calyx, corolla, etc. ; 
a gibbosity. 
gibber-gabbert (gib'er-gab'er), n. [Redupl. of 
gabber*. Of. gibble-gabble, and see gibber* and 
gabber 1 .] Idle talk; chatter; gabble: equiva- 
lent to gibble-gabble. Tusser. 
gibberish (gib'6r-ish), n. and a. [Formerly 
also gibbrish, gibrish, gibrittye (also geberish, 
gebrislt, the last forms appar. accom., in allu- 
sion to the jargon of alchemy, to Geber (or Ge- 
bir, in Gower Gibere), the reputed founder of 
the Arabian school of chemistry or alchemy) ; 
< gibber 1 , gabble, -t- -ink, appar. in imitation of 
language-names in -is-A 1 .] I. . Rapid and 
inarticulate talk ; unintelligible or incoherent 
language ; confused or disguised speech ; jar- 
gon. 
He that applies his names to ideas different from their 
common use , . . speaks gibberish. 
Locke, Human Understanding, III. x. 31. 
I'll now attend you to the Tea-table, where I shall hear 
from your Ladyship Reason and good Sense, after all this 
Law and Gibberish. Steele, Conscious Lovers, iii. 1. 
The nncouth gibberish with which all this was uttered, 
like the darkness of an oracle, made us the more attentive 
to it. Addition, Sir Roger and the Gipsies. 
=Syn, See prattle, n. 
II. a. Unmeaning; unintelligible; disguised 
or jargonized, as words. 
Physicians but torment him, his disease 
Laughs at their yibteiiih language. 
Slassinger, Virgin-Martyr, iv. 1. 
gibberishing (gib'er-ish-ing), a. [< gibber- 
ish + -ing 2 .] Inarticulate; stammering. Com- 
pare rubbishing. 
And yet forsooth we must gag our lawes in rribberishing 
Irish? Holinshed, Description of Ireland, i. 
gibberoset (gib'er-os), a. In bot., same as gib- 
bous. 
gibberosity (gib-e-ros'i-ti), n. In bot., same as 
gibbosity. Bailey, 172/ ; Gray. 
gibbet 1 (jib'et), M. [< ME. gibet, gebet, gebat, 
jebet, jebat, a gibbet, appar. < OF. gibet, later 
gibbet, F. gibet, ML. gibetum, gibetus. It. giub- 
betto, m., giubbetta, usually in pi. giubbette, f., a 
gibbet. The It. forms suggest a connection 
with It. giubbetto, dim. of giubba, dial, gibba. 
an under-waistcoat, doublet, mane (seejupon), 
as if through the notion of 'collar' or 'halter'; 
but the It. giubbetto, a gibbet, is prob. accom. 
to the other word so spelled, and the real source 
may be in OF. gibet, a large stick, appar. dim. 
of gibbe, gibe, a sort of arm (weapon), an imple- 
ment for stirring the earth and rooting up 
2508 
plants, appar. a hoe : see gib 1 and jib 1 , the lat- 
ter of which, in the sense of ' a projecting beam 
or arm of a crane,' comes very near the sense of 
gibbet.] 1. A kind of gallows ; a wooden struc- 
ture consisting of an upright post with an arm 
projecting from the top, on wnich malefactors 
were formerly hanged in chains; sometimes, 
as the famous gibbet of Montfaueon, near 
Paris, a considerable structure with numerous 
uprights of masonry, connected by several tiers 
of cross-beams, and with pits beneath it in 
which the remains were cast when they fell 
from the chains ; hence, a gallows of any form. 
Unless a man would marry a gallows, and beget young 
gibbets, I never saw one so prone [to death]. 
Shak., Cymbeline, v. 4. 
Where Honour and Justice most oddly contribute, 
To ease Hero's Pains by a Halter and Gibbet. 
Prior, The Thief and the Cordelier. 
His grants were from the aggregate and consolidated 
funds of judgments iniqultoualy legal, and from posses- 
sions voluntarily surrendered by the lawful proprietors 
with the gibbet at the door. Btirlce, To a Noble Lord. 
2. The projecting beam of a crane which sus- 
tains the pulleys and the weight to be lifted; 
a jib. 3. A great cudgel, such as are thrown 
at trees to beat down the fruit. Grose. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
gibbet 1 (jib'et), r. t. [< gibbet, n.] 1. To hang 
and expose on a gibbet or gallows ; hang upon 
anything resembling a gibbet. 
Some Inns still gibbet their Signs across a Town. 
Bourne'! Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 389. 
Here [in the kitchen] is no every-day cheerfulness of 
cooking-range, but grotesque andirons wading into the 
bristling embers, and a long crane with villainous pots 
gibbeted upon it. Uowella, Venetian Life, vii. 
2. Figuratively, to set forth to public gaze; 
expose to ridicule, scorn, infamy, or the like. 
Thus [he] unknowingly gibbeted himself into infamy, 
when he might have otherwise quietly retired into obliv- 
ion. Ooldsmith, Citizen of the World, xii. 
Then Where's the wrong, to gibbet high the name 
Of fools and knaves already dead to shame? 
Essay on Satire, i. 160. 
gibbet 2 t, n. An error for giyot, a shoulder of 
mutton. 
A good sauce for a gibbet of mutton. 
Fuller, Ch. Hist, iv. 28. 
gibbet-tree (jib'et-tre), . A gallows-tree. 
gibbiert, w. See gibier. 
gibble-gabblet (gib'1-gaVl), n. [A varied re- 
dupl. or gabble: see ffibber-gabber and gibber*-.'} 
Idle talk; chatter; gabble. Cotgrave. 
gibbon (gib'on), n. [F. gibbon, in Buffon; ori- 
gin not ascertained.] The common name of 
the long-armed apes of the genus Hylobates, 
subfamily Hylobatince, and family Simiidce. 
These apes have a remarkably slender body, with very long 
slim limbs, especially the fore limbs or arms, which al- 
most touch the ground when the animal stands erect ; the 
tail is rudimentary, and there are ischial callosities. In 
some respects the gibbons approach man very closely. 
Gibbon (Hy Malts lar). 
They inhabit the East Indian archipelago and the penin- 
sular mainland, and are extremely agile, swinging them- 
selves in the trees like the spider-monkeys of the new 
world. There are several species, one of the best-known of 
which is Hylobates lar, inhabiting Tenasserim and a wide 
extent of adjoining country, of a blackish color marked 
with white on the face and hands. The hoolock (//. hoo- 
lock) is another, found in Assam and neighboring regions. 
The crowned gibbon is H . pileatus of Siam. Sumatra has 
a gibbon (ff. agilis) noted for uttering musical sounds, and 
variously called wow-wow, oungha, unyaputi, unkaputi, 
etc. The most notable gibbon is the Sumatran siamang 
(H. siamanga or Siamanga syndactyla), which has two of 
its toes webbed. See these names, also ape, Hylobates. 
gib-boom, . See jib-boom. 
gibbose (gib'os), a. [< L. gibbosus: see gib- 
bous.] Same as gibbous. 
gibe 
gibbosity (gi-bos'i-ti), n. [= F. gibbosite = Pr. 
ffilbositat, gelbonitat = Pg. gibosidndc = It. gib- 
bosita; as gibbous, gibbose, + -ity.] 1. The state 
of being gibbous or gibbose ; roundness or pro- 
tuberance of outline ; convexity. 
When two ships, sailing contrary ways, lose the sight 
one of another, . . . what should take away the sight of 
these ships from each other but the gibbosity of the in- 
terjacent water? Ray, Works of Creation, ii. 
That a singular regard be had upon examination to the 
gibbosity of the gentlemen that offer themselves as found- 
er's kinsmen [of the Ugly Club]. Steele, Spectator, No. 17. 
2. A protuberance ; a round or swelling prom- 
inence. Specifically 3. In bo t., a swelling or 
protuberance at one side of an organ, usually 
near the base, as of a calyx. 4. In zoo'l., an ir- 
regular large protuberance, somewhat rounded, 
but not forming the segment of a sphere ; a 
hump: as, the gibbosity of or on the back of a 
camel or zebu. 
gibbous (gib 'us), a. [Also gibberose, gibbose 
= F. gibbeux = Sp. giboso, jiboso = Pg. giboso, 
gibboso = It. gibboso; < L. gibbosus, a different 
reading of gibberosits, hunched, humped, < gib- 
ber, a hunch, hump, < gibber, a., hunched, 
humped. Cf . equiv. gibbus, hunched : see gib- 
ber 3 .} 1. Having a hunch or protuberance 
on the back; hunched; humpbacked; crook- 
backed. 
How oxen, in some countries, began and continue gib- 
bous, or hunch-backed. Sir T. Browne. 
Is there of all your kindred some who lack 
Vision direct, or have a gibbous back? 
Crabbe, Works, II. 81. 
The bones will rise, and make a gibbous member. 
Wiseman. 
Specifically 2. Swelling by a regular curve ; 
convex, as the moon is when more than half and 
less than full, the illuminated part being then 
convex on both margins. 3. In bot., having a 
rounded protuberance at the side or base. 4. 
In zool., convex but not regularly rounded; 
somewhat irregularly raised or swollen; pro- 
tuberant; humped; gibbose. 
gibbously (gib'us-li), adv. In a gibbous or pro- 
tuberant form. Imp. Diet. 
gibbousness (gib'us-nes), . The state of being 
gibbous; protuberance; a prominence; con- 
vexity. 
gibbsfte (gib'zit), . [Named in honor of the 
American mineralogist George Gibbs (1776- 
1833). The proper names Gibbs and Gibson 
(i. e.. Gib's son) are due to Gib, a familiar abbr. 
of Gilbert (see gib 2 ); a dim. of Gib is Gibbon, 
whence further Gibbons, Gibbing, Gibbens, Gib- 
bonson.~\ A hydrate of aluminium, a whitish 
mineral, found in Massachusetts in irregular 
stalactitic masses, presenting an aggregation 
of elongated tuberous branches, parallel and 
united: also found in the Ural and elsewhere, 
in monoclinic crystals, and often called hydrar- 
gillite. Its structure is fibrous, the fibers radi- 
ating from an axis. 
gib-cat (gib'kat), n. [< gib* + cat. Cf. gibb'd 
cat, under gib 2 , .] A tom-cat, especially an old 
tom-cat : often implying castration. 
I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugged bear. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., L 2. 
A hag whose eies shoot poison that has beene an ould 
witch, and is now turning into a gib-cat. 
Marston, The Fawne, iv. 
I could never sing 
More than a gib-cat or a very howlet. 
Ford, Lady's Trial, iv. 2. 
Gib-cat is, at this moment, the ordinary name in Scot- 
land and in the north of England, where, however, tom- 
cat is expelling it from "fine" speech: and it was for- 
merly the ordinary name in England also. 
J. A. H. Murray, N. and Q., 7th ser., V. 350. 
gibe 1 , jibe 2 (jib), v. ; pret. and pp. gibed, jibed, 
ppr. gibing, jibing. [Appar. of Scand. origin 
(with assibilation of orig. guttural, as in jabber 
for gabber 1 , etc . ) . Cf . Sw. dial, gipa, talk rashly 
and foolishly, Icel. geipa, talk nonsense, geip, 
idle talk. Connection with jape is uncertain.] 
I. intrans. To utter taunting or sarcastic words ; 
rail; sneer; scoff: absolutely or with a t. 
Lest they relieving us might afterwards laugh and gibe 
at our poverty. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, iv. 9. 
= Syn. Jeer, Scoff, etc. See sneer. 
II. trans. To speak of or to with taunting 
or sarcastic words; deride; scoff at; rail at; 
ridicule. 
Draw the beasts as I describe them, 
From their features, while I gibe them. Swift. 
gibe 1 , jibe 2 (jib), n. [< gibe 1 , jibe 2 , v.] A taunt- 
ingly or contemptuously sarcastic remark; a 
scoff; a railing; an expression of sarcastic 
scorn. 
