jig

¹

[ jig ]

noun

1. Machinery. a plate, box, or open frame for holding work and for guiding a machine tool to the work, used especially for locating and spacing drilled holes; fixture.
2. Angling. any of several devices or lures, especially a hook or gang of hooks weighted with metal and dressed with hair, feathers, etc., for jerking up and down in or drawing through the water to attract fish.
3. Mining. an apparatus for washing coal or separating ore from gangue by shaking and washing.
4. a cloth-dyeing machine in which the material, guided by rollers, is passed at full width through a dye solution in an open vat.

verb (used with object)

, jigged, jig·ging.

1. to treat, cut, produce, etc., with a jig.

verb (used without object)

, jigged, jig·ging.

1. to use a jig.
2. to fish with a jig.

jig

²

[ jig ]

noun

1. a rapid, lively, springy, irregular dance for one or more persons, usually in triple meter.
2. a piece of music for or in the rhythm of such a dance.
3. Obsolete. prank; trick.

verb (used with object)

, jigged, jig·ging.

1. to dance (a jig or any lively dance).
2. to sing or play in the time or rhythm of a jig:

   to jig a tune.

3. to move with a jerky or bobbing motion; jerk up and down or to and fro.

verb (used without object)

, jigged, jig·ging.

1. to dance or play a jig.
2. to move with a quick, jerky motion; hop; bob.

jig

³

[ jig ]

noun

1. (formerly used in communications to represent the letter J. )

jig

⁴

[ jig ]

noun

, Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.

jig

/ dʒɪɡ /

noun

1. any of several old rustic kicking and leaping dances
2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance, usually in six-eight time
3. a mechanical device designed to hold and locate a component during machining and to guide the cutting tool
4. angling any of various spinning lures that wobble when drawn through the water
5. Also calledjigger mining a device for separating ore or coal from waste material by agitation in water
6. obsolete.
   a joke or prank

verb

1. to dance (a jig)
2. to jerk or cause to jerk up and down rapidly
3. often foll by up to fit or be fitted in a jig
4. tr to drill or cut (a workpiece) in a jig
5. mining to separate ore or coal from waste material using a jig
6. intr to produce or manufacture a jig
7. slang.
   to play truant from school

Other Words From

• jiglike jiggish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of jig¹

First recorded in 1855–60; probably akin to jig ², in the sense “jerk to and fro”; origin and interrelationship of these words uncertain

Origin of jig²

First recorded in 1550–60; in earliest sense “kind of dance”; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Middle French giguer “to frolic, gambol,” possibly from an unattested West Germanic verb

Origin of jig³

First recorded in 1920–25, Americanism; of uncertain origin; jigaboo

Word History and Origins

Origin of jig¹

C16 (originally: a dance or the music for it; applied to various modern devices because of the verbal sense: to jerk up and down rapidly): of unknown origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in jig time, Informal. with dispatch; rapidly:

   We sorted the mail in jig time.

2. the jig is up, Slang. it is hopeless; no chance remains:

   When the burglar heard the police siren, he knew the jig was up.

Example Sentences

Some supposedly "Christian" organizations have been running an interesting game for years now--but in 2014, I think the jig is up.

From The Daily Beast

He did not take a step—do a jig—without calculating the odds.

From The Daily Beast

The Iraqi could barely repress his glee, and did a kind of jig as he walked across the room.

From The Daily Beast

WIN: Washing Machine  Everyone can do a Harlem Style jig, even the non-humans.

From The Daily Beast

In the end, the case was referred to the Nassau County District Attorney, and the jig was up.

From The Daily Beast

I wanted her to be there when its full import broke upon him; then the three of us, Mary and Tim and I, would do a wild jig.

From Project Gutenberg

Everybody was laughing and singing to the tune of an Irish jig that Norah's father was playing on the bagpipes.

From Project Gutenberg

Nor did I release her until Whistling Jim, coming up and realizing the situation, celebrated it by whistling a jig.

From Project Gutenberg

And who should he spy in a jig, With a meal-man so tall and so big,But his own darling Kate, so gay and so nate?

From Project Gutenberg

From what he hears, or knows, he gathers, that the jig is up.

From Project Gutenberg