cut one's jib

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noun Nautical.

any of various triangular sails set forward of a forestaysail or fore-topmast staysail. Compare flying jib, inner jib. See diag. under ship.

the inner one of two such sails, set inward from a flying jib.

adjective

of or pertaining to a jib: jib clew.

Idioms

cut of one's jib, one's general appearance, mien, or manner: I could tell by the cut of his jib that he wasn't the kind of person I'd want to deal with.

Origin:
1655–65; origin uncertain

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To cut one's jib

Collins

World English Dictionary

jib¹ (dʒɪb)

—n
1.	nautical any triangular sail set forward of the foremast of a vessel
2.	cut of someone's jib someone's manner, behaviour, style, etc
3.	obsolete
	a. the lower lip, usually when it protrudes forwards in a grimace
	b. the face or nose

[C17: of unknown origin]

00:10

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the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

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jib² (dʒɪb)

—vb , jibs, jibbing, jibbed
1.	(often foll by at) to be reluctant (to); hold back (from); balk (at)
2.	(of an animal) to stop short and refuse to go forwards: the horse jibbed at the jump
3.	nautical variant of gybe

[C19: of unknown origin]

'jibber²

—n

jib³ (dʒɪb)

—n
	the projecting arm of a crane or the boom of a derrick, esp one that is pivoted to enable it to be raised or lowered

[C18: probably based on gibbet]

jib⁴ (dʒɪb)

—n
	dialect (South Wales) (often plural) a contortion of the face; a face: stop making jibs

[special use of jib¹ (in the sense: lower lip, face)]

jibe, jib or jibb¹ (dʒaɪb, dʒɪb)

—vb, —n
	nautical variants of gybe

jib, jib or jibb¹

—vb, —n

jibb, jib or jibb¹

—vb, —n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

jib

"foresail of a ship," 1661, gibb, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to gibbet, from notion of a sail "hanging" from a masthead. Or perhaps from jib (v.) "shift a sail or boom" (1693), from Du. gijben, apparently related to gijk "boom or spar of a sailing ship." Said to indicate a ship's character

to an observant sailor as a strange vessel approaches at sea; also nautical slang for "face," hence cut of his jib.

Matching Quote

"Marriage accustomed one to the good things, so one came to take them for granted, but magnified the bad things, so they came to feel as painful as a grain in one's eye. An open window, a forgotten quart of milk, a TV set left blaring, socks on the bathroom floor could become occasions for incredible rage. And something happened sexually in marriage—the swearing to forsake all others, despite its slight observance, had a profound effect. Some people felt trapped by it, impelled to assert what they called freedom. Some accepted it like a rein, and in the effort to avoid pain in the form of hopeless desire, cut off occasions of desire, avoided having long talks at parties with attractive members of the opposite sex. In time, all feeling for the opposite sex was cut off, and intercourse limited to the barest politenesses.... But something happened to you when you did that, a kind of death seeped up from the genitals to the rest of the body, till it showed in the eyes, the gestures, in a certain lifelessness."

-Marilyn French

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