jibe

1 of 3

verb (1)

ˈjīb 

jibed; jibing

intransitive verb

: to be in accord : agree

—usually used with with

a story that doesn't jibe with the facts

jibe

2 of 3

verb (2)

variant spelling of gibe

intransitive verb

: to utter taunting words

transitive verb

: to deride or tease with taunting words

boxers gibing each other before a fight

jibe

3 of 3

verb (3)

variants or less commonly gybe

jibed also gybed; jibing also gybing

intransitive verb

1

: to shift suddenly and forcibly from one side to the other

—used of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom

was the most amazed when he saw me work the boat to and again in the sea by the rudder, and how the sail jibed, and filled this way or that way as the course we sailed changed

—Daniel Defoe

the cutter had lost all four foremost men by the violent jibing of a boom

—Herman Melville

2

: to change a vessel's course when sailing with the wind so that as the stern passes through the eye of the wind the boom swings to the opposite side

transitive verb

: to cause (a sail or vessel) to jibe

this maneuver was bound to force her to jibe her mainsail from one side to the other

—Jack London

jibe noun

or less commonly gybe

Did you know?

Jive vs. Jibe

People began confusing jive and jibe almost immediately after jive entered our language in the late 1920s. In particular, jive is often used as a variant for the sense of jibe meaning “agree,” as in “that doesn’t jive with my memory of what happened.” This use of jive, although increasingly common, is widely considered to be an error. Jibe, however, is accepted as a variant spelling of an entirely different word, which is gibe (“to utter taunting words”).

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• accord
• agree
• answer
• check
• chord
• cohere
• coincide
• comport
• conform
• consist
• correspond
• dovetail
• fit
• go
• harmonize
• rhyme
• rime
• sort
• square
• tally

Examples of jibe in a Sentence

Verb (1)

that doesn't jibe with what I know about his character

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Being on an indie must jibe well with your tendency to take your time, as opposed to being forced to hit deadlines to deliver albums. —Joe Lynch, Billboard, 29 Aug. 2024

The comparatively low numbers of international visitors jibe with a report issued this past May by the New York State Comptroller, which noted that as of year-end 2023, international visitors to New York City were still 14.1 percent below 2019, or prepandemic, levels. —News Desk, Artforum, 29 July 2024

Between 2009 and 2018, despair remained hump-shaped, jibing with the preexisting research. —Deena Mousa, Scientific American, 12 July 2024

Bunch has shrewdly tacked and jibed between placating the Smithsonian’s right-wing critics and pushing the institution forward. —Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

origin unknown

Verb (3)

perhaps modification of Dutch gijben

First Known Use

Verb (1)

1813, in the meaning defined above

Verb (3)

1693, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

jibe

1 of 3 verb

variants or gybe

jibed or gybed; jibing or gybing

1

: to shift suddenly from one side to the other

2

: to cause a sail to jibe

jibe

2 of 3

variant of gibe

jibe

3 of 3 verb

jibed; jibing

: to be in agreement

the two reports jibed

Etymology

Verb

perhaps a modified form of Dutch gijben "to shift suddenly from one side to another"

Verb

origin unknown