Other forms: jibs
A jib is the triangular sail set in front of the mast. Set the jib, trim the jib, the jib sheet.
It works with the mainsail rather than instead of it: air accelerating between the two is much of what drives a sailing boat upwind. The cut of your jib means your appearance or manner, a phrase from judging a ship's nationality by her foresail. A jib is also the projecting arm of a crane. Note jib as a verb, meaning to refuse to go on.
1nounjibThe triangular sail set in front of the mast.
“The sailor let out the jib to catch more wind.”
2nounprojectingThe projecting arm of a crane.
“The crane swung its jib over the building site, carrying steel beams.”
jib is a sail or a crane arm.
The word is attested from the 1660s and its origin is uncertain, perhaps from a verb meaning to swing around. The crane sense followed the sail.
Built from
Attested since the 1660s, of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to jib (“shift or swing around”) (see below).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sea & Sailing