jib

/dʒɪb/

Other forms: jibs; jibbed; jibbing

A jib is a sail at the front of a sailboat. The triangle-shaped jib hangs in front of the boat's mast.

Some sailboats use only a jib to move, but most of them combine a main sail, which does most of the work, and a jib, which makes the boat more stable. Jib is also a verb, meaning "move to the opposite side of the ship" or "refuse to follow instructions." The old-fashioned compliment "I like the cut of your jib," or "I like the way you look," comes from nautical slang, in which jib meant "face."

Definitions of jib

1. noun

   any triangular fore-and-aft sail (set forward of the foremast)
   types:

   flying jib

   the outermost of two or more jibs

   type of:

   fore-and-aft sail

   any sail not set on a yard and whose normal position is in a fore-and-aft direction
2. verb

   shift from one side of the ship to the other
   “The sail jibbed wildly”

   synonyms: change course, gybe, jibe

   type of:

   sail

   travel on water propelled by wind
3. verb

   refuse to comply
   synonyms: balk, baulk, resist

   type of:

   disobey

   refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient