gybe
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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(intr) (of a fore-and-aft sail) to shift suddenly from one side of the vessel to the other when running before the wind, as the result of allowing the wind to catch the leech
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to cause (a sailing vessel) to gybe or (of a sailing vessel) to undergo gybing
noun
Etymology
Origin of gybe
C17: from obsolete Dutch gijben (now gijpen ), of obscure origin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The team said on Wednesday that Fisher had unclipped his tether and left the cockpit to tidy up a sheet when the boat went into an accidental crash gybe.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 28, 2018
Burling said he thought he could lay through the final gate and then gybe to the finish, but he misjudged it and had to make an extra maneuver, slowing the boat.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 12, 2017
It would take a small fraction of a minute to execute the latter manœuvre; and as the sails were now partially sheltered under the lee of the land, the bold skipper determined to gybe.
From The Yacht Club or The Young Boat-Builder by Optic, Oliver
A nautical entertainment had been fixed for 6 p.m.; but unfortunately that hour was selected to gybe the ship, so that it was 6.30 before261 the entertainment commenced.
From The Last Voyage to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam' by Pritchett, R. T. (Robert Taylor)
Wildly excited, Tim forgot that he was steering and, putting the helm down, allowed the smack to gybe "all standing".
From With Beatty off Jutland A Romance of the Great Sea Fight by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
Instead, it gybed in Luna Rossa’s wind shadow, lost speed and fell off its foils.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 17, 2021
Team New Zealand looked likely to roll Luna Rossa on the first downwind but, as the boats came level, gybed away in a failing breeze.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2021
Soon after we gybed, and for two or three hours knocked about in the most unpleasant manner.
From A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' Our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months by Brassey, Annie
The skipper put the helm up, and gybed the boat.
From All Adrift or The Goldwing Club by Optic, Oliver
The second mark will have to be gybed around.
From Harper's Round Table, September 3, 1895 by Various
First Team New Zealand dropped off its foils after gybing in Luna Rossa’s wind shadow and the Italian team sailed away to a massive advantage.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2021
Mostyn, intent upon preventing the boat from gybing, had no opportunity of seeing the result of the shot.
From The Wireless Officer by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
Bobtail ran to the west of the ledges, and, going entirely round to avoid gybing, he came up into the wind close under the stern of the Penobscot.
From Little Bobtail or The Wreck of the Penobscot. by Optic, Oliver
By this time the wind had dropped to a gentle breeze on the port quarter, and there was no longer any risk of gybing.
From The Wireless Officer by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
Putting a boat about, as Fanny had turned the Greyhound, is nautically termed gybing her.
From Hope and Have or, Fanny Grant Among the Indians, A Story for Young People by Optic, Oliver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
