Word.ws English Dictionary

gig

UK/ɡɪɡ/

gig noun: originally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer. Also the clipping of gigabyte.

gig: originally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film,...
Image: Kharitonov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

gig (plural gigs)

  1. (informal) Originally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer.
    • I caught one of the Rolling Stones’ first gigs in Richmond.
    • Hey, when are we gonna get that hotel gig again?
  2. (broadly, informal) Any job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.
    • I had this gig as a file clerk but it wasn’t my style so I left.
    • That guy’s got a great gig over at the bike shop. He hardly works all day.
  3. (US, informal) A demerit received for some infraction of a military deportment or dress code.
    • I received gigs for having buttons of my uniform undone.

Verb (1)

gig (third-person singular simple present gigs, present participle gigging, simple past and past participle gigged)

  1. (informal, transitive) To play (a musical instrument) at a gig.
  2. (US, informal, transitive) To impose a demerit (on someone) for an infraction of a military deportment or dress code.
    • His sergeant gigged him for an unmade bunk.
  3. (informal, intransitive) To engage in a musical performance, act in a theatre production, etc.
    • The Rolling Stones were gigging around Richmond at the time.
  4. (broadly, informal, intransitive) To work at any job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.

Noun (2)

gig (plural gig or gigs)

  1. (informal, slang) Any unit of measurement having the SI prefix giga-.

Noun (3)

gig (plural gigs)

  1. (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.
    • Peda[nt]. Thou diſputes like an Infant: goe vvhip thy Gigg. / Pag[e]. Lende me your Horne to make one, and I vvill vvhip about your Infamie vnũ cita a gigge of a Cuckolds horne.c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
    • Play-things vvhich are above their [children's] Skill to make; as Tops, Gigs, Battledors, and the like, vvhich are to be uſed vvith labour, ſhould indeed be procur'd them: Theſe 'tis convenient they ſhould have, not for Variety, but Exerciſe.1695, [John Locke], “§130”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education. […], 3rd edition, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 241
  2. (UK, archaic, dialectal, informal, school slang (Eton College)) A person with an odd appearance; also, a foolish person.
  3. (UK, archaic, dialectal, informal, slang) Fun; frolics.
    • Such was his toil, when one night coming home, / Such swell uncivil, who'd been out to roam / In search of lark, or some delicious gig / The mind delights in, when 'tis in prime twig,—1820, Richard Ranger, “Randall; a Fragment. With Notes”, in Jack Randall’s Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius. […], London: […] [J. Brettell] for W[illiam] Simpkin and R[ichard]...
  4. (informal, obsolete) A fanciful impulse; a whim; also, a joke.
    • I muſt goe ſee him preſently, / For this is ſuch a gig: for certaine Gentlemen / The Fiend rides on a Fiddleſticke.1619, John Fletcher, “The Humorous Lieutenant”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iv, page 141...
  5. (informal) A small, narrow, open boat carried in a larger ship, and used for transportation between the ship and the shore, another vessel, etc.
    • She [a frigate] also carried a Commodore's Barge, a Captain's Gig, and a "dingy," a small yawl, with a crew of apprentice boys. […] Above all, the officers see to it that the Commodore's Barge and the Captain's Gig are manned by gentlemanly youths, who do credit to their country, and form agreeable...1850, Herman Melville, “The Frigate in Harbour—The Boats—Grand State Reception of the Commodore”, in White Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page...
    • The captain's gig still lies before ye whole and sound, / It shall carry all o' we.1979, Stan Rogers, “The Flowers of Bermuda” (track 6), in Between the Breaks … Live!, Dundas, Ont.: Fogarty’s Cove Music
  6. (Southern-England, broadly, 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.
  7. (historical, informal) A two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.
    • While Sir William was with them, Mr. Collins devoted his mornings to driving him out in his gig, and shewing him the country; […]1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 77
    • Here a coach thundered over the pavement, and there an unwieldy omnibus, with spruce gigs rattling past, and horsemen prancing through all the bustle.1837 July, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “[Tales and Sketches.] Fragments from the Journal of a Solitary Man.”, in The Dolliver Romance, and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company...

Verb (2)

gig (third-person singular simple present gigs, present participle gigging, simple past and past participle gigged)

  1. (informal, transitive) To make a joke, often condescendingly, at the expense of (someone); to make fun of.
    • His older cousin was just gigging him about being in love with that girl from school.
  2. (informal, intransitive) Sometimes followed by it: to ride in a gig (“a two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse”).

Noun (4)

gig (plural gigs)

  1. (informal, obsolete) A frivolous, playful, or wanton young woman; a giglet or giglot.
    Synonyms:
    fizgig

Noun (5)

gig (plural gigs)

  1. (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”).
    • On toward dusk some little gypsy boys whittled gigs from river-birch limbs and went to a backwater and gigged frogs until they had a basketful.1997, Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 122
    Synonyms:
    fishgig, fizgig

Verb (3)

gig (third-person singular simple present gigs, present participle gigging, simple past and past participle gigged)

  1. (informal, transitive) To spear (fish, etc.) with a gig or fizgig.
  2. (informal, intransitive) To catch or fish with a gig or fizgig.

Also used as

gig is also the clipping of gigabyte.

gig meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

gig in Hindi

गिग, गिग करें

gig in Marathi

गिग, गिग करा, गिग करण्यासाठी

gig in Urdu

گگ

gig in Bengali

গিগ, গিগ করুন, গিগ করতে
More languagesFewer languages
gig in Telugu
గిగ్, గిగ్ చెయ్యడానికి
gig in Malayalam
ഗിഗ്, ഗിഗ് ചെയ്യാൻ
gig in Kannada
ಗಿಗ್, ಗಿಗ್ ಮಾಡಲು, ಗಿಗ್ಗೆ
gig in Punjabi
ਗਿੱਗ, ਗਿਗ, ਗਿੱਗ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
gig in Gujarati
ગિગ, ગીગ, ગિગ કરો
gig in Odia
ଗିଗ୍, ଗିଗ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ଗିଗ୍ କରିବାକୁ
gig in Nepali
गिग, गीग, गिग गर्न
gig in Arabic
حَفْلَة ḥafla
gig in Persian
گیگ gig
gig in Vietnamese
biểu diễn, nhạc sống

Examples of gig in a sentence

  • Whether you want to have some occasional translation gigs or turn freelance translating into your fulltime occupation, you'll need to know some essential things […]2014 July 24, R. Z. Aklat, “Introduction”, in Become a Freelance Translator, [S.l.]: R. Z. Aklat, →ISBN:
  • In recent decades, "gig" has become just a hip term for any temporary job or stint, with the implication you're not particularly invested in it.2016 January 11, Geoffrey Nunberg, “Fresh Air: Goodbye Jobs, Hello ‘Gigs’: How One Word Sums Up a New Economic Reality”, in NPR, archived...
  • From infancy through childhood's giddy maze, / Frovvard at ſchool, and fretful in his plays, / The puny tyrant burns to ſubjugate / The free republic of the vvhip-gig ſtate.1782, William Cowper, “Hope”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 151:
  • [W]hen he was gone (in the carriage, mind you, not in the gig driven by the groom), I am sure Mrs.1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Clive’s Uncles”, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family...

All 40 example sentences with gig

Synonyms of gig

Forms of gig

Noun
pluralgigs
pluralgig
Verb
third-person singular presentgigs
present participlegigging
past participlegigged
pastgigged

Origin of gig

The etymology of the noun is unknown, but compare Old French gigue (“a fiddle”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Sense 1 is a clipping of gigabyte, while sense 2 is a clipping of giga- (prefix multiplying the unit to which it is attached by one billion).

The noun is derived from Middle English gigg, gigge, gygge (“spinning object; a top”); further origin uncertain, possibly: * from Old Norse [Term?] (compare Danish gig (“a top”), dialectal Norwegian giga (“to shake about”)), from Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeyǵʰ-, *gʰeygʰ- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”); or * ultimately onomatopoeic. Senses 2–4 are thought to derive from sense 1 (“whipping-top”), but their exact relationship is unclear. The verb is derived from the noun.

Words formed from gig

Phrases with gig

Words that rhyme with gig

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about gig

What does gig mean?
Gig means originally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer.
What is gig in Hindi?
Gig in Hindi is गिग, गिग करें. See Gig meaning in Hindi.
How do you use gig in a sentence?
Whether you want to have some occasional translation gigs or turn freelance translating into your fulltime occupation, you'll need to know some essential things […]
What part of speech is gig?
Gig can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce gig?
Gig is pronounced /ɡɪɡ/ (UK).
What is the plural of gig?
The plural of gig is gigs.

Words near gig in the dictionary

  1. giftwrapping
  2. giftwrappings
  3. giftwraps
  4. gifty
  5. Gifu
  6. gig
  7. gig bag
  8. gig bags
  9. gig economies
  10. gig economy
  11. Gig Harbor

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gig (page history and authors); gig (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gig (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-gig.ogg.

Cite this entry: “gig.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gig. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.