What does "jig" mean?
A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue.
Jig
/d͡ʒɪɡ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue.
- Grammar: jig is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adjust, align, allemande, and jump.
- Useful contrasts: disassemble, even out, inaction.
- Usage evidence: The jig is up; let's face the music like men.
How to use "jig"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "jig" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "jig" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "jig" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "jig" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "jig" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adjust" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "jig", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue.
- 2 A black person. US, dated, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur
"“You got a new jig, huh?” The boy looked out at Jones through his swirls of oiled hair. “What happened to the last one? He die or something?”"
- 3 radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter J.
- 4 any of various old rustic dances involving kicking and leaping wordnet
- 5 A lively dance in 6/8 (double jig), 9/8 (slip jig) or 12/8 (single jig) time; a tune suitable for such a dance. By extension, a lively traditional tune in any of these time signatures. Unqualified, the term is usually taken to refer to a double (6/8) jig. Irish, traditional
"They danced a jig."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 a device that holds a piece of machine work and guides the tools operating on it wordnet
- 7 A dance performed by one or sometimes two individual dancers, as opposed to a dance performed by a set or team.
- 8 a fisherman's lure with one or more hooks that is jerked up and down in the water wordnet
- 9 A type of lure consisting of a hook molded into a weight, usually with a bright or colorful body.
"They were waked out of their bunks one black night by yells of "Squid O!" from Salters, and for an hour and a half every soul aboard hung over his squid-jig—a piece of lead painted red and armed at the lower end with a circle of pins bent backward like half-opened umbrella ribs."
- 10 music in three-four time for dancing a jig wordnet
- 11 A device in manufacturing, woodworking, or other creative endeavors for controlling the location, path of movement, or both of either a workpiece or the tool that is operating upon it. Subsets of this general class include machining jigs, woodworking jigs, welders' jigs, jewelers' jigs, and many others.
"Cutting circles out of pinewood is best done with a compass-style jig."
- 12 An apparatus or machine for jigging ore.
- 13 A light, humorous piece of writing, especially in rhyme; a farce in verse; a ballad. obsolete
"A jig shall be clapped at, and every rhyme / Praised and applauded by a clamorous chime."
- 14 A trick; a prank. obsolete
"This Innovation? Is't not a fine Jigg? / A precious cunning in the late Protector / To shuffle a new Prince into the State."
Verb
- 1 To move briskly, especially as a dance.
"The guests were jigging around on the dance floor."
- 2 dance a quick dance with leaping and kicking motions wordnet
- 3 To move with a skip or rhythm; to move with vibrations or jerks.
"the candle-flame stretched itself tall, and began jigging up and down."
- 4 To fish with a jig.
- 5 To sing to the tune of a jig.
"No, my complete master, but to jig off a tune at the tongue’s end, canary to it with your feet, humor it with turning up your eyelids,"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To trick or cheat; to cajole; to delude.
"Make thy moan to ballad singers and rhymers ; they'll jig out thy wretchedness and abominations to new tunes"
- 7 To sort or separate, as ore in a jigger or sieve.
- 8 To cut or form, as a piece of metal, in a jigging machine.
- 9 To skip school or be truant.
Antonyms
Example
"The jig is up; let's face the music like men."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "jig"?
Common synonyms include: adjust, align, allemande, and jump, angle, bait.
How do you use "jig" in a sentence?
The jig is up; let's face the music like men.
How do you pronounce "jig"?
Pronounced /d͡ʒɪɡ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Unknown. Derivation from Middle English gyge (“fiddle”), from Old French gigue (“a fiddle”) has been proposed, but the connection and sense development are obscure. The sense “a type of dance” of modern French gigue is borrowed from English.
Etymology 2
Probably a clipping of jigaboo, of uncertain origin, perhaps an African/Bantu word. Alternatively, jigaboo may be derived from jig (“dance”).