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gybe

/d͡ʒaɪb/verb, noun

gybe is a verb meaning “To shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other, while sailing before the wind” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled G-Y-B-E, and it appears about once in every 48 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does gybe mean?

verb

  1. 1

    To shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other, while sailing before the wind.

  2. 2

    Of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom: to shift, often forcefully and suddenly, from one side of a sailing vessel to the other.

  3. 3

    Generally of a small sailing vessel: to change tack with the wind crossing behind the vessel.

  4. 4

    obsoleteOften as gybe at: to balk, hesitate, or vacillate when faced with a course of action, plan, or proposal.

  5. 5

    Alternative spelling of jibe (“taunt”).

noun

  1. 1

    A sudden shift of a sail's angle, or a sudden change in the direction that a vessel is sailing in.

  2. 2

    A manoeuvre in which the stern of a sailing vessel crosses the wind, typically resulting in the forceful and sudden sweep of the boom from one side of the vessel to the other.

  3. 3

    A sudden change in approach or direction; vacillation.

  4. 4

    Alternative spelling of jibe (“taunt”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce gybe?

  • US /d͡ʒaɪb/

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gybe.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of gybe

  • gybes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • gybing participle, present
  • gybed participle, past
  • gibe
  • jibe

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is gybe?

Gybe appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Gybe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishtrasluchar (to shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a…)
Frenchempanner, virer lof pour lof (to change tack with the wind behind), empannage (sudden shift of a sail's angle)
Germankreuzen (to change tack with the wind behind)
Portuguesecambar (to change tack with the wind behind), cambada (sailing manoeuvre)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does gybe come from?

Probably from Dutch gijben (obsolete), gijpen; cognate with Danish gibbe, German gieben, giepen, Swedish gipa, gippa. The noun is derived from the verb; compare Dutch gijb (obsolete), gijp (“act of gybing; a boom”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).