gybe

verb

less common spelling of jibe

intransitive verb

1

: to shift suddenly and forcibly from one side to the other

—used of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom

was the most amazed when he saw me work the boat to and again in the sea by the rudder, and how the sail jibed, and filled this way or that way as the course we sailed changed

—Daniel Defoe

the cutter had lost all four foremost men by the violent jibing of a boom

—Herman Melville

2

: to change a vessel's course when sailing with the wind so that as the stern passes through the eye of the wind the boom swings to the opposite side

transitive verb

: to cause (a sail or vessel) to jibe

this maneuver was bound to force her to jibe her mainsail from one side to the other

—Jack London

Kids Definition

gybe

variant of jibe entry 1