jibed; jibing
: to be in accord : agree
—usually used with with
a story that doesn't jibe with the facts
variant spelling of gibe
: to utter taunting words
: to deride or tease with taunting words
boxers gibing each other before a fight
variants
or less commonly gybe
jibed also gybed; jibing also gybing
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
Daniel Defoethe cutter had lost all four foremost men by the violent jibing of a boom—Herman Melville
Herman Melville2
: 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
: 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
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”).
Examples of jibe in a Sentence
Verb (1)
that doesn't jibe with what I know about his character
Recent Examples on the Web
Steve Hruby, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Additionally, be sure to speak to multiple professionals to find the one who can jibe with your company culture while also pushing the team outside their comfort zone.
—Dr. Kyle Elliott, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Microsoft’s results don’t look great, which jibes with previous results.
—PC Magazine, 14 May 2025
But such practices didn’t jibe with increasingly modern economies, and colonialists, especially in North America, saw burning as both barbaric and a threat to industrialized capitalism.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for jibe
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Verb
Assuming your numbers jibe with ours, back to your question.
—Steve Hruby, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Additionally, be sure to speak to multiple professionals to find the one who can jibe with your company culture while also pushing the team outside their comfort zone.
—Dr. Kyle Elliott, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Microsoft’s results don’t look great, which jibes with previous results.
—PC Magazine, 14 May 2025
But such practices didn’t jibe with increasingly modern economies, and colonialists, especially in North America, saw burning as both barbaric and a threat to industrialized capitalism.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for jibe
Cite this Entry
“Jibe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jibe. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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