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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Gibbet \Gib"bet\, noun [OE. gibet, F. gibet, in OF. also club, fr. LL. gibetum;; cf. OF. gibe sort of sickle or hook, It. giubbetto gibbet, and giubbetta, dim. of giubba mane, also, an under waistcoat, doublet, Prov. It. gibba (cf. {Jupon}); so that it perhaps originally signified a halter, a rope round the neck of malefactors; or it is, perhaps, derived fr. L. gibbus hunched, humped, E. gibbous; or cf. E. jib a sail.]
1. A kind of gallows; an upright post with an arm projecting from the top, on which, formerly, malefactors were hanged in chains, and their bodies allowed to remain as a warning.
2. The projecting arm of a crane, from which the load is suspended; the jib.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Gibbet \Gib"bet\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Gibbeted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Gibbeting}.]
1. To hang and expose on a gibbet.
2. To expose to infamy; to blacken.
I'll gibbet up his name. --Oldham.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
gibbet
noun: instrument of execution consisting of a wooden frame from which condemned persons are executed by hanging [syn: {gallows}, {gallows tree}, {gallows-tree}, {gallous}]
verb
1: hang on an execution instrument
2: expose to ridicule or public scorn [syn: {pillory}]
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |