different between vacillation vs gybe

English

Etymology

From Latin vacillatio "swaying".

Compare oscillation

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /væs??le???n/

Noun

vacillation (countable and uncountable, plural vacillations)

1. Indecision in speech or action.
2. Changing location by moving back and forth.

Synonyms

• (indecision): hesitation, wavering
• (motion): swing, swinging

Translations

See also

• vacillate

Anagrams

• cavillation

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /d?a?b/
• Rhymes: -a?b

Etymology 1

Probably from Dutch gijben (obsolete), gijpen; cognate with Danish gibbe, German gieben, giepen, Swedish gipa, gippa.

The noun is derived from the verb; compare Dutch gjib (obsolete), gjip (“act of gybing; a boom”).

Verb

gybe (third-person singular simple present gybes, present participle gybing, simple past and past participle gybed)

1. (transitive, nautical) To shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other, while sailing before the wind.
2. (intransitive, nautical) Of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom: to shift, often forcefully and suddenly, from one side of a sailing vessel to the other.
3. (intransitive, nautical) Generally of a small sailing vessel: to change tack with the wind crossing behind the vessel.
4. (by extension, obsolete) Often as gybe at: to balk, hesitate, or vacillate when faced with a course of action, plan, or proposal.

Usage notes

Sense 3 (“to change tack”) is generally used of boats and other small sailing craft; the corresponding manoeuvre in a sailing ship is wear.

Translations

Noun

gybe (plural gybes)

1. (nautical) The act of gybing.
   1. A sudden shift of a sail's angle, or a sudden change in the direction that a vessel is sailing in.
   2. A manoeuvre in which the stern of a sailing vessel crosses the wind, typically resulting in the forceful and sudden sweep of the boom from one side of the vessel to the other.
2. (by extension) A sudden change in approach or direction; vacillation.

Translations

Alternative forms

• gibe
• jibe (now chiefly US)

Etymology 2

See jibe.

Noun

gybe (plural gybes)

1. Alternative spelling of jibe (“taunt”)

Verb

gybe (third-person singular simple present gybes, present participle gybing, simple past and past participle gybed)

1. Alternative spelling of jibe (“taunt”)

References

Anagrams

• g'bye