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Gib Cat

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A tom-cat. The male cat used to be called Gilbert. Nares says that Tibert or Tybalt is the French form of Gilbert, and hence Chaucer in his Romance of the Rose, renders “Thibert le Cas” by “Gibbe, our Cat” (v. 6204). Generally used for a castrated cat. (See Tybalt.)

“I am as melancholy as a gib cat or a lugged bear.”—Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., i. 2.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Giant of Literature (The)
Giants (g soft)
(5) Giants of Mythology
(6) Giants of Real Life
Giant’s Causeway
Giants Dance (The)
Giant’s Leap (The)
Giants War with Jove (The)
Giaour (jow-er)
Gib (g soft)
Gib Cat
Gibberish (g hard)
Gibbet (g soft)
Gibelins
Gibeonite
Giblets (The Duke of)
Gibraltar (g soft)
Gif Gaff
Gift-horse
Gig (g hard)
Gig-lamps