jibe

verb (1)

\ ˈjīb

jibed; jibing

Definition of jibe

(Entry 1 of 3)

intransitive verb

: to be in accord : agree —usually used with with a story that doesn't jibe with the facts

jibe

verb (2)

variant spelling of gibe

intransitive verb

: to utter taunting words

transitive verb

: to deride or tease with taunting words gibed her about her weight

jibe

verb (3)

variants: or less commonly gybe

jibed also gybed; jibing also gybing

Definition of jibe (Entry 3 of 3)

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 Defoethe 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

Other Words from jibe Jive vs. Jibe Example Sentences Learn More about jibe

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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

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

At the time, current and former employees said his more-aggressive approach didn’t jibe with HSBC’s genteel culture. — Margot Patrick, WSJ, "HSBC Taps Goldman Sachs Banker as Financial Institutions Chief," 5 Oct. 2018 And some workers are pushing back against their employers when their work with defense or other government agencies don’t jibe with their political viewpoints. — Greg Bensinger And Douglas Macmillan, WSJ, "Tech Firms Should Face ‘Thoughtful’ Regulation, Lawmakers Say," 13 Nov. 2018 Revolutionary technology doesn’t jibe with the car industry’s business model, which is based on incremental improvements, slowly honing a proven product. — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, "In Defense of Elon Musk," 16 Oct. 2018 These findings jibe with the research of Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at Oxford. — Teddy Wayne, New York Times, "Are My Friends Really My Friends?," 12 May 2018 The numbers pretty much jibe with recent statewide polls showing Newsom well ahead and the two Republicans battling for the second spot. — Matier & Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, "In Bay Area, Newsom leads big in race for governor — 2 Republicans are next," 16 May 2018 Such a protectionist tool will directly impact enterprises worldwide, including those of the United States, and does not jibe with international rules on resolving trade problems. — David Meyer, Fortune, "'The Trump Administration Is Behaving Like a Gang of Hoodlums:' Words Fly as U.S.-China Trade War Begins," 6 July 2018 Old pagan themes remained, but the pagan names were changed to jibe with the Christian Bible. — Ryan P. Smith, Smithsonian, "Unfurling the Rich Tapestry of Armenian Culture," 25 June 2018 Yet the notion that Regan could be the perpetrator did seem to jibe with certain facts. — Ruth Padawer, New York Times, "Should Statutes of Limitations for Rape Be Abolished?," 19 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jibe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.