gibbet

3 definitions found

gibbet - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Gibbet \Gib"bet\, n. [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.]
     [1913 Webster]
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The projecting arm of a crane, from which the load is
        suspended; the jib.
        [1913 Webster]

  Gibbet \Gib"bet\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gibbeted; p. pr. & vb.
     n. Gibbeting.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To hang and expose on a gibbet.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To expose to infamy; to blacken.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I'll gibbet up his name.              --Oldham.
        [1913 Webster]

gibbet - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  gibbet
      n 1: alternative terms for gallows [syn: gallows tree,
           gallows-tree, gibbet, gallous]
      v 1: hang on an execution instrument
      2: expose to ridicule or public scorn [syn: pillory, gibbet]