gib

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: Abbreviated fr. Gilbert, the name of the cat in the old story of “Reynard the Fox”, in the “Romaunt of the Rose”, etc.

A male cat; a tomcat. obsolete

To act like a cat. obsolete Francis, & Fletcher, John. Beaumont

Origin: Etymol. uncertain.

A piece or slip of metal or wood, notched or otherwise, in a machine or structure, to hold other parts in place or bind them together, or to afford a bearing surface; — usually held or adjusted by means of a wedge, key, or screw.

Gib and key, or Gib and cotter Steam Engine, the fixed wedge or gib, and the driving wedge,key, or cotter, used for tightening the strap which holds the brasses at the end of a connecting rod.

To secure or fasten with a gib, or gibs; to provide with a gib, or gibs.

Gibbed lathe, an engine lathe in which the tool carriage is held down to the bed by a gib instead of by a weight.

To balk. See Jib, intransitive verb William Youatt

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

The Jargon File

1.vi. To destroy utterly. Like frag, but much more violent and final. “ There's no trace left. You definitely gibbed that bug”.

2.n. Remnants after total obliteration.

Popilarized by id software in the game Quake, but actually goes back to an earlier game called Rise of the Triad. It's short for giblets (thus pronounced “jib”), and referred to the bloody remains of slain opponents. Eventually the word was verbed, and leaked into general usage afterward.