jib
part of speech
noun (a jib, jibs); verb (jib, jibs, jibbed, jibbing)
meaning for a pupil
1) A triangle-shaped sail at the front of a sailing boat. tree →
2) The long arm of a crane that sticks out and holds the hook. tree →
3) To jib (at something) means to refuse to do it or be unwilling, like a horse that stops and will not go on. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used in sailing, boats and the river and sea stories; the Water Rat and the Sea Rat talk of boats and sails. In building sites the jib of a crane swings over the street. The verb is a bit old-fashioned and appears in older books: «he jibbed at paying». Phrase: «the cut of his jib» (old, how someone looks or seems, from the shape of a ship's sail).
examples
- The sailor raised the jib, and the boat turned into the wind. tree →
- The jib flapped in the breeze. tree →
- The crane's jib swung slowly over the building site. tree →
- The horse jibbed at the gate and would not go through. tree →
- He jibbed at paying so much for a ticket. tree →
- Grandad said he liked the cut of her jib. tree →
note
Do not confuse with «gibe» or «jibe» (to mock, or in sailing to swing the sail across). Past: jibbed, with double b. «Cut of your jib» is an idiom, not about cutting.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «jib» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.