Gib"bet (?), n. [OE. gibet, F.
gibet, in OF. also club, fr. LL. gibetum;; cf. OF.
gibe sort of sickle or hook, It. giubbetto gibbet, and
giubbetta, dim. of giubba mane, also, an under
waistcoat, doublet, Prov. It. gibba (cf. Jupon); so
that it perhaps originally signified a halter, a rope round the neck
of malefactors; or it is, perhaps, derived fr. L. gibbus
hunched, humped, E. gibbous; or cf. E. jib a sail.]
1. A kind of gallows; an upright post with an
arm projecting from the top, on which, formerly, malefactors were
hanged in chains, and their bodies allowed to remain as a
warning.
2. The projecting arm of a crane, from which
the load is suspended; the jib.
Gib"bet, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Gibbeted (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Gibbeting.]
1. To hang and expose on a gibbet.
2. To expose to infamy; to blacken.
I'll gibbet up his name.
Oldham.
