gibbetn.1
/ˈdʒɪbɪt/ 1. figurative.c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Harl.) i. i. 5 Now þan most a prelate honge the wif—what bymenyth that? Farsoth þat..þe flesh be hongyd on þe iebet of penaunce.1599 T. Heywood 1st Pt. King Edward IV sig. F4v Hast thou insnarde our heedles feet with death, And brought vs to the Jibbet of defame?1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. vi. 17) 68 God hath hang'd up the old world in gibbets, as it were, for our admonition.1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Sixth 14 Heart-merit wanting, mount we ne'er so high, Our Height is but the Gibbet of our Name.1805 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled i. 15 Expos'd on satire's gibbet high, To frighten others of the fry.† b. Applied to the Cross. Obsolete.† d. to ride the gibbet: to be carried on a pole round the town. Cf. to ride the stang. Obsolete. rare.
a. Originally synonymous with gallows n., but in later use signifying an upright post with projecting arm from which the bodies of criminals were hung in chains or irons after execution.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun] > gallows
gallowsOE
gallows-treea1000
warytre?a1200
gibbet?c1225
gallow-forka1250
forkc1275
juisec1320
forchesc1380
crossa1382
treec1425
patible1428
justice1484
potencec1500
haltera1533
turning-tree1548
potentc1550
three treesa1566
chates1567
mare1568
furel1587
bough1590
gibe1590
derrickc1600
hangrella1605
cross-tree1638
Gregorian tree1641
wooden horse1642
timber-marec1650
triple tree1651
furca1653
nubbing1673
a horse that was foaled of an acorn1678
nub1699
Tyburn tree1728
raven-stone1738
picture frame1785
crap1789
lamp-iron1790
Moll Blood1818
stifler1818
scragging-post1819
government signposta1828
leafless tree1830
shuggie-shue1836
doom-tree1837
stob1860–62
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 92 Me were muchedal leoure þet ich iseȝe ou alle þreo..hongen. on an gibet for to wið buwe sunne.
13.. K. Alis. 4722 Heore feet men kneotte theo hors to. To the gybet al quyk men tare, Hygh they weore an-honged thare.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Deut. xxi. 22 Whanne a man..were hongid in the gebet, the careyn of hym shal not abide in the tree.
a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 64 She was atyred with highe longe pynnes lyke a iebet, and so she was scorned of alle the company, and saide she bare a galous on her hede.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. xixv Theyr bodyes to the Iebet solemly ascende, Wauynge with the wether whyle theyr necke wyl holde.
a1529 J. Skelton Speke Parrot in Certayne Bks. (?1545) sig. A.iii The Iebet of Baldock, was made for Iack Leg.
1568 V. Skinner tr. R. González de Montes Discouery Inquisition of Spayne f. 24 The lynes that tye both his hands & thumbes, to a certain Pullie which hangeth on the Ieobit.
1572 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 141 Payd to Bate for takyng of Cranwell downe of the jebytt xij d.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. ii. 248 Haman inherits the gibbet of Mordecai.
1705 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft 29 I never see any spiritual Highway-Man..according to their Merits, hang'd upon Gibbets.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Gibet, a Machine, in manner of a Gallows, whereon notorious Criminals after Execution, are hung in Irons, or Chains; as Spectacles, in terrorem.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 318 There, the black gibbet glooms beside the way.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian ii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 55 Several groupes..gazed on the scaffold and gibbet.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. ii. 38 You shall see a row of gibbets all the way from here to Deeping.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > biblical events > [noun] > crucifixion > instruments of crucifixion > the cross
roodOE
beamOE
rood-treeOE
treeOE
crouchc1000
holy roodOE
crossc1275
Holy crossc1290
gibbetc1450
cross patif1543
c1450 Mirour Saluacioun 4666 On the Gibet of the crosse deignyng for me to dye.
1535 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. (1876) 416 On the gebbit of the Crosse.
c. Halifax Gibbet n. an instrument for beheading criminals, similar to the Scottish maiden or French guillotine, formerly in use at Halifax in Yorkshire.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [noun] > beheading > guillotining > guillotine > instrument similar to
maiden1565
Halifax Gibbet1650
maid1699
1650 in J. Watson Hist. Halifax (1775) 219 To suffer death, by having their heads severed, and cut off from their bodies, at Halifax Gibbet.
1775 J. Watson Hist. Halifax 219 The said Abraham Wilkinson and Anthony Mitchell were..conducted to the said gibbet, and there executed in the usual form.
ΚΠ
1519 Surtees Misc. (1888) 34 She shalnot chyde ne flyte wt eny neghtburez..oppen ridyng of the jebit, or thew, aboute the towne.
2. The punishment of death by hanging.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun]
hanginga1300
hangmentc1440
gallows1483
gibbet1502
Tyburn checka1529
Tyburn stretch1573
caudle of hempseed1588
hempen caudle1588
swinging1591
rope law1592
rope-leap1611
cording1619
turn1631
nubbing1673
cravatting1683
gibbetation1689
topping1699
Tyburn jig1699
noosing1819
scragging1819
Tyburn tie1828
Newgate hornpipe1829
dance upon nothing1841
drop1887
suspension1909
a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1772) VII. xi. 218 The..wickedness of many is such, that nothing but..jails and gibbets can keep civil society in..order.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles ii. v. 47 Some poor criminal..from the gibbet..Respited for a day.
1872 C. Gibbon For King xiii The gibbet and the musket are the only lawgivers of the hour.
3. † a. A short beam projecting from a wall, having a pulley fixed at the end (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > projecting bracket
perk1475
gibbetc1503
bracket1574
poppet1779
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xlvij/1 The said wardens..haue made in the stede of ye said crane a gibet hanging on a wall not able to take any thingis out of the watir of thamyse.
1545 Act 37 Hen. VIII c. 12 §9 Houses, with Key or Wharf, having any Crane or Gibet belonging to the same.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. dj All Cranes, Gybbettes, & Ingines to lift vp.
b. The projecting arm of a crane; also called jib n.1
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > crane > parts of
crane-line1466
ram's head1611
crane-wheel1669
ram-head1686
gibbet1730
calliper1765
jib1765
outrigger1835
clutch1874
crab1874
gabbard1952
spreader1957
lifting beam1963
1730 J. T. Desaguliers in Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 194 The Crane must be a fix'd one, and only the Gibbet moveable, from which the Weight hangs.
1806 O. G. Gregory Treat. Mech. II. 197 Gibbet, or Jib, of a crane, the projecting beam, upon the extremity of which is fixed a pulley.
1875 in E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II.
c. Scottish. A chimney crane for hanging a pot over the fire.
ΚΠ
1477 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 408 A brewyne fat, a hemmyr stand, a bukket, and a gybbate that it hang by.
1887 [see gibbet-gab n. at Compounds 2]. ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
a1640 J. Day & H. Chettle Blind-beggar (1659) sig. I4v Give me but an ashen Gibbet in my hand, an I do not dry-bang them both, I'll be bound to eat hay with a horse, so will I.
1691 J. Ray S. & E. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 100 A Gibbet, a great Cudgel, such as they throw up Trees to beat down the Fruit.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
gibbet-chain n.
ΚΠ
a1847 E. Cook Song of Wind vi I had swung the gibbet~chains against the bleaching bones.
gibbet-foot n.
ΚΠ
1826 W. Scott Woodstock III. vi. 179 Keep your jests for the gibbet foot.
gibbet-irons n.
ΚΠ
1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter 131 in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 561 A murderer's banes in gibbet airns.
1898 Daily News 13 Sept. 5/1 A complete set of gibbet irons.
gibbet-law n.
ΚΠ
1708 S. Midgley (title) Hallifax, and its Gibbet-Law placed in a true Light.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 13/2 The ‘Halifax Gibbet Law’ was not alone exercised for the protection of clothiers, but it was also used for the punishment of other felonies.
gibbet-tree n.
ΚΠ
13.. St. Cristofer 668 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 462 Myne eldirs..sloughe hym on a gebete-tree.
1808 W. Scott Marmion i. xii. 34 We saw..on the gibbet-tree, reversed, His foeman's scutcheon tied.
b.
gibbet-carrier n.
ΚΠ
1731 J. Arbuthnot Brief Acct. Ginglicutt's Treat. Scolding Ancients 20 You did not love Cruelty, you Kennel-raker, you Gibbet-carrier.
gibbet-maker n.
ΚΠ
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. iii. 80 What saies Iubiter? Clowne. Ho the Gibbetmaker? Hee saies that he hath taken them downe againe, for the man must not be hangd till the next weeke. View more context for this quotation
c.
gibbet-wise adv.
ΚΠ
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 266 Putting a piece of Timber Gibbet-wise into that hole in the Wall.
C2.
gibbet-gab n. Scottish (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1887 D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. at Gibbet The largest pots were hung on the swee itself, or were attached to it by a strong double hook called the gibbet-gab.
gibbet-pan n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1887 D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. Gibbet-pan, a name given to the largest pot or pan used in cooking: so called because it generally hung on the gibbet or swee.
gibbet-thief n. a thief who is hanged on a gibbet.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > who is hanged
gibbet-thief1700
1700 W. Congreve Way of World iii. i. 35 I hope to see him hung with Tatters, like a long Lane Pent-house, or a Gibbet-thief.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† gibbetn.2
Obsolete.
A note on the horn, a call or whistle as a signal to a dog or hawk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > signals > [noun] > signal on horn
forloinc1369
motec1400
strakea1425
rechasec1425
recopec1425
morta1500
seekc1500
death note1575
recheat1575
gibbet1590
wind1596
relief1602
call1677
stroke1688
gone away1827
rattle1889
the world > food and drink > hunting > hawking > [noun] > signal
trovya1529
gibbet1590
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sound of horn > [noun]
seekc1500
poopa1556
gibbet1590
honking1844
tra-ra1900
hoot1904
honk1905
honk-honk1908
klaxoning1922
beep-beep1929
parp1936
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > sound of wind instruments > sound of horn
motc1330
windingc1500
gibbet1590
tra-ra1849
rattle1889
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > wind music > cadence or flourish on horn
blas?c1225
forloinc1369
windc1374
strakea1425
strakinga1425
rechasec1425
rechasingc1425
recopec1425
seekc1500
mort1555
recheat1575
gibbet1590
senneta1593
relief1602
horn-call1632
call1677
stroke1688
tantivy1785
tralira1801
tra-la-la1886
1590 T. Cokayne Treat. Hunting C iv b Being sure it is his owne Deere, he may giue one gibbet at euery imprime, and no more.
1621 G. Markham Hunger's Prevent. (1655) 49 Your Water-dogge..vpon the least gybbet or call to come running vnto you.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV cclxix, in Poems (1878) IV. 68 Hee calls 'em in With Jybbet, which the Kennel now enflames.
1730 W. Yonge Norfolk Garland Tolle Aux! then Callet cry'd And gave a gibbet shrill.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > signals > [noun] > signalling
gibbeting1615
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > [noun] > specific type of music
gibbeting1615
fuguing1694
serenading1797
hornpiping1864
ragging1899
jazzing1917
riffing1933
rocking1948
rock 'n' rolling1956
skiffling1957
rifferama1977
riffola1979
hip-hopping1987
riffage1991
1615 G. Markham Countrey Contentments i. viii. 93 If your Hawke..rake and gase after euery checke, neither respecting whooping nor gibbeting, in this case you must [etc.].
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) vii. xix. 668 The cries of the hounds, the winding of hornes, or the gibbetting of the huntsmen.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
gibbetv.
/ˈdʒɪbɪt/ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > be hanged [verb (intransitive)]
rideeOE
hangc1000
anhangc1300
wagc1430
totter?1515
to wave in the windc1515
swing1542
trine1567
to look through ——?1570
to preach at Tyburn cross1576
stretch?1576
to stretch a rope1592
truss1592
to look through a hempen window?a1600
gibbet1600
to have the lift1604
to salute Tyburn1640
to dance the Tyburn jig1664
dangle1678
to cut a caper on nothing1708
string1714
twist1725
to wallop in a tow (also tether)1786
to streek in a halter1796
to straight a ropea1800
strap1815
to dance upon nothing1837
to streek a tow1895
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 260 Hee that gibbets on the brewers bucket. View more context for this quotation
2.
a. transitive. To put to death by hanging.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > hang [verb (transitive)]
hangc1000
anhangOE
forhangc1300
to loll up1377
gallowa1400
twitchc1450
titc1480
truss1536
beswinga1566
trine1567
to turn over1570
to turn off1581
to turn (a person) on the toe1594
to stretch1595
derrick1600
underhang1603
halter1616
staba1661
noose1664
alexander1666
nub1673
ketch1681
tuck1699
gibbet1726
string1728
scrag1756
to hang up1771
crap1773
patibulate1811
strap1815
swing1816
croak1823
yardarm1829
to work off1841
suspercollatea1863
dangle1887
1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) viii. 37 Starving, burning, and gibetting, one year, all persons holding such opinions.
1851 W. H. Dixon W. Penn ix. 303 He was..found guilty, and gibbeted in front of his own house in Cheapside.
1881 J. S. Blackie Lay Serm. viii. 239 The Stuarts gibbeted the Covenanters because they denied the rights of a civil sovereign to frame liturgies [etc.].
b. To hang (a carcass) on a gibbet by way of infamous exposure. Also with up.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > hang [verb (transitive)] > for exposure
gibbet1752
1752 [see sense 3].
1761 Brit. Mag. 2 669 This murderer..under~standing that he was to be gibbeted..was greatly enraged.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 209 Wickedness..walks abroad; it continues its ravages; whilst you are gibbeting the carcass, or demolishing the tomb. View more context for this quotation
c1820 S. Rogers Adventure in Italy (1828) ii. xiv. 87 Soon should I..limb by limb, be mangled on a wheel, Then gibbeted to blacken for the vultures.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 319 Away with that convict to the gallows, and gibbet him alive an you will.
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. iv. 88 All the culprits were hanged; according to Walsingham, were gibbetted in chains.
c. transferred. To hang up (a bird, a thing) on or as on a gibbet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > hang or suspend [verb (transitive)]
ahangOE
hangc1000
to hang upa1400
knagc1400
peisea1425
suspendc1440
swing1529
sling1697
uphang1748
gibbet1749
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. i. 4 The same Animal..may perhaps be degraded in another Part, and some of his Limbs gibbeted, as it were, in the vilest Stall in Town. View more context for this quotation
1777 J. Brand Observ. Pop. Antiq. 389 Some Inns still gibbet their Signs across a Town.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall xxv. 212 They [the crows] are gibbetted in every corn-field.
1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life vii. 111 A long crane with villainous pots gibbeted upon it.
3. figurative. To hold up to infamy or public contempt. Also with up. to gibbet into: to bring into (an ignominious position) as by hanging on a gibbet.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > disgrace or dishonour > [verb (transitive)] > subject or expose to ignominy
bauchle1488
swinge1546
prostitute1613
post1642
gibbet1646
pillory1699
1646 J. Whitaker Danger of Greatnesse 5 God doth..gibbet his open adversaries.
1681 J. Oldham Some New Pieces never Publisht 132 I mean to hang, and gibbet up thy Name.
1752 Bp. W. Warburton Let. to Balguy in Hurd Life (1794) 65 I had gibbeted up Julian, and he comes by night to cut him down.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 39 Thus [he] unknowingly gibbeted himself into infamy, when he might have otherwise quietly retired into oblivion.
1836 R. Southey in Cowper's Wks. II. 26 This reviewal of Cowper's first volume is one of those defunct criticisms which deserve to be disinterred and gibbeted for the sake of example.
1848 Ashley in E. Hodder Life Earl Shaftesbury (1886) II. xvii. 274 Poor Melbourne died yesterday, and to-day he is, of course, gibbeted in the Times. This is ‘one of the new terrors of death’.
1886 T. Frost Reminisc. Country Journalist v. 59 Everybody..[was] apprehensive of being morally gibbeted in its pages.
Derivatives
ˈgibbeted adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [adjective] > hanged
yhongeOE
hanged1470
patibulated1656
gibbeted1756
neckclothed1825
sus. per coll.1827
1756 F. Brooke et al. in Old Maid 24, 141 Thus I hung suspended in the air..a terrible gibbeted example of curiosity.
1825 W. Scott Talisman i, in Tales Crusaders IV. 12 I shall be a gibbetted and dishonoured corse.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. vii. v. 218 Your road horribly decked with gibbeted thieves swinging aloft.
1875 W. Houghton Sketches Brit. Insects 105 Stomachs of the gibbeted moles.
ˈgibbeting n. (in quot. attributive)
ΚΠ
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Sept. 7/2 It seems to be by the merest accident that any gibbeting irons have been preserved for our gratification, since they were left to perish with the bodies they contained.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1?c1225
n.21590
v.1600