cut of one's jib

Idioms  

1. One's general appearance or personality, as in I don't like the cut of Ben's jib. In the 17th century the shape of the jib sail often identified a vessel's nationality, and hence whether it was hostile or friendly. The term was being used figuratively by the early 1800s, often to express like or dislike for someone.

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Example Sentences

Jib′-boom, a boom or extension of the bowsprit, on which the jib is spread; Jib′-door, a door flush with the outside wall, intended to be concealed.—The cut of one's jib, appearance.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various