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jeer

Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɪə/

The English word “jeer” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A mocking remark or reflection.
  2. A gear; a tackle.
  3. An assemblage or combination of tackles, for hoisting or lowering the yards of a ship.

verb

  1. To utter sarcastic or mocking comments; to speak with mockery or derision; to use taunting language.
  2. To mock; treat with mockery; to taunt.

Etymology

From earlier gyr, probably from Dutch gieren (“to roar with laughter, laugh loudly”) (related to German gieren (“to gape, snap”)); or from Dutch gekscheren (“to jeer”, literally “to shear the fool”), from gek (“a fool”) (see geck) + scheren (“to shear”) (see shear (verb)). The OED states no verifiable connection to English cheer.

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