Brewer's: Gibbet

(g soft). A foot-pad, who “piqued himself on being the best-behaved man on the road.” (GeorgeFarquhar: Beaux' Stratagem.)

To gibbet the bread (Lincolnshire). When bread turns out ropy and is supposed to be bewitched, the good dame runs a stick through it and hangs it in the cupboard. It is gibbeted in terrorem to other batches.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language