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12 dictionary results for: Jig

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

jig1

[

jig] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, jigged, jig·ging.

–noun

1.	Machinery. a plate, box, or open frame for holding work and for guiding a machine tool to the work, used esp. for locating and spacing drilled holes; fixture.

2.	Angling. any of several devices or lures, esp. a hook or gang of hooks weighted with metal and dressed with hair, feathers, etc., for jerking up and down in or drawing through the water to attract fish.

3.	Mining. an apparatus for washing coal or separating ore from gangue by shaking and washing.

4.	a cloth-dyeing machine in which the material, guided by rollers, is passed at full width through a dye solution in an open vat.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to treat, cut, produce, etc., with a jig.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to use a jig.

7.	to fish with a jig.

[Origin: 1855–60; prob. akin to jig², in sense “jerk to and fro”; orig. and interrelationship of this group of words uncert.

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

jig2

[

jig] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, jigged, jig·ging, adjective

–noun

1.	a rapid, lively, springy, irregular dance for one or more persons, usually in triple meter.

2.	a piece of music for or in the rhythm of such a dance.

3.	Obsolete. prank; trick.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to dance (a jig or any lively dance).

5.	to sing or play in the time or rhythm of a jig: to jig a tune.

6.	to move with a jerky or bobbing motion; jerk up and down or to and fro.

–verb (used without object)

7.	to dance or play a jig.

8.	to move with a quick, jerky motion; hop; bob.

—Idioms

9.	in jig time, Informal. with dispatch; rapidly: We sorted the mail in jig time.

10.	the jig is up, Slang. it is hopeless; no chance remains: When the burglar heard the police siren, he knew the jig was up.

[Origin: 1550–60; in earliest sense “kind of dance” perh. < MF giguer to frolic, gambol, prob. < an unattested WGmc verb (cf. gig¹); semantic development of other senses unclear

]

—Related forms

jiglike, jiggish, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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jig3

[

jig] Pronunciation Key

–noun

(formerly used in communications to represent the letter J.)

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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jig4

[

jig] Pronunciation Key

–noun Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

a black person.

[Origin: 1920–25, Americanism; of uncert. orig.; cf. jigaboo

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

jig¹ (jĭg) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. Any of various lively dances in triple time.
2. The music for such a dance. Also called gigue.
A joke or trick. Used chiefly in the phrase The jig is up.
A typically metal fishing lure with one or more hooks, usually deployed with a jiggling motion on or near the bottom.
An apparatus for cleaning or separating crushed ore by agitation in water.
A device for guiding a tool or for holding machine work in place.

v. jigged, jig·ging, jigs

v. intr.

To dance or play a jig.
To move or bob up and down jerkily and rapidly.
To operate a jig.

v. tr.

To bob or jerk (something) up and down or to and fro.
To machine (an object) with the aid of a jig.
To separate or clean (ore) by shaking a jig.

[Origin unknown.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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jig² (jĭg) Pronunciation Key
n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.

[Probably shortening of jigaboo.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
jig

"lively dance," c.1560, perhaps related to M.Fr. giguer "to dance," or to the source of Ger. Geige "violin." Meaning "piece of sport, trick" is 1592, now mainly in phrase the jig is up (first attested 1777 as the jig is over).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

jig
noun
1.	music in three-four time for dancing a jig
2.	a fisherman's lure with one or more hooks that is jerked up and down in the water
3.	a device that holds a piece of machine work and guides the tools operating on it
4.	any of various old rustic dances involving kicking and leaping
verb
1.	dance a quick dance with leaping and kicking motions

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Jig

Jig\, n. [OF. gigue a stringed instrument, a kind of dance, F. gigue dance, tune, gig; of German origin; cf. MHG. g[=i]ge fiddle, G. geige. Cf. Gig a fiddle, Gig a whirligig.]

1. (Mus.) A light, brisk musical movement.

Hot and hasty, like a Scotch jib. -- Shak.

3. A light, humorous piece of writing, esp. in rhyme; a farce in verse; a ballad. [Obs.]

A jig shall be clapped at, and every rhyme Praised and applauded. --Beau. & Fl.

4. A piece of sport; a trick; a prank. [Obs.]

Is't not a fine jig, A precious cunning, in the late Protector? -- Beau & Fl.

5. A trolling bait, consisting of a bright spoon and a hook attached.

6. (Mach.) (a) A small machine or handy tool; esp.: (Metal Working) A contrivance fastened to or inclosing a piece of work, and having hard steel surfaces to guide a tool, as a drill, or to form a shield or templet to work to, as in filing. (b) (Mining) An apparatus or a machine for jigging ore.

Drill jig, a jig for guiding a drill. See Jig, 6 (a) .

Jig drilling, Jig filing (Metal Working), a process of drilling or filing in which the action of the tool is directed or limited by a jig.

Jig saw, a sawing machine with a narrow, vertically reciprocating saw, used to cut curved and irregular lines, or ornamental patterns in openwork, a scroll saw; -- called also gig saw.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Jig

Jig\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Jigged; p. pr. & vb. n. Jigging.]

1. To sing to the tune of a jig.

Jig off a tune at the tongue's end. -- Shak.

2. To trick or cheat; to cajole; to delude. --Ford.

3. (Mining) To sort or separate, as ore in a jigger or sieve. See Jigging, n.

4. (Metal Working) To cut or form, as a piece of metal, in a jigging machine.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Jig