HOW TO PRONOUNCE
gig
/ɡɪɡ/
Press play to hear how to pronounce gig.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:39
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does gig mean?
noun
- (informal) Originally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer.
- (informal) Any job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.
- (informal) A demerit received for some infraction of a military deportment or dress code.
More meanings (19)
verb
- (informal) To play (a musical instrument) at a gig.
- (informal) To impose a demerit (on someone) for an infraction of a military deportment or dress code.
- (informal) To engage in a musical performance, act in a theatre production, etc.
- (informal) To work at any job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.
- (informal) To make a joke, often condescendingly, at the expense of (someone); to make fun of.
- (informal) Sometimes followed by it: to ride in a gig (“a two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse”).
- (informal) To spear (fish, etc.) with a gig or fizgig.
- (informal) To catch or fish with a gig or fizgig.
noun
- (informal) Clipping of gigabyte (“one billion (1,000,000,000) bytes”).
- (informal, slang) Any unit of measurement having the SI prefix giga-.
- (informal) A small, narrow, open boat carried in a larger ship, and used for transportation between the ship and the shore, another vessel, etc.
- (informal) A similar rowing boat or sailboat, especially one used for racing; specifically, a six-oared sea rowing boat commonly found in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
- (informal) Synonym of fishgig or fizgig (“a spear with a barb on the end of it, used for catching fish, frogs, or other small animals”).
- (informal, obsolete) A top which is made to spin by tying a piece of string around it and then throwing it so that the string unwinds rapidly; a whipping-top.
- (archaic, informal) A person with an odd appearance; also, a foolish person.
- (archaic, informal, slang) Fun; frolics.
- (informal, obsolete) A fanciful impulse; a whim; also, a joke.
- (historical, informal) A two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.
- (informal, obsolete) A frivolous, playful, or wanton young woman; a giglet or giglot.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ɡɪɡ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Presently it was possible to discern something that might be a gig on the circular drive before the front door.
Turning the horse suddenly he tried to drive back upon her, and so hem her in between the gig and the hedge.
More book examples (3)
We once came very near running one down in the gig, and should probably have been knocked to pieces and blown sky-high.
After leaving school, he was employed for two years as a gig boy on one of the winding engines at the Govan colliery.
I made a drawing of the little gig and pony, with the sun rising, and the hour at which I wished to start.