verb (old cant).—1. To beat; specifically (pugilism) to get in a quick succession of blows, as when you get your man round the neck (i.e., into chancery) and pommel his ribs or face.
1665. R. HEAD, The English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 49 (1874). FIB, to beat.
1724. E. COLES, English Dictionary. FIB, to beat.
1811. SOUTHEY, Letters (ii., 236). I have been taking part in the controversy about ‘Bell and the Dragon,’ as you will see in the Quarterly, where I have FIBBED the Edinburgh (as the fancy say) most completely.
1853. THACKERAY, Men’s Wives, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Frank Berry,’ ch. i. For Heaven’s sake, my boy, FIB with your right, and mind his left hand!
1853. REV. E. BRADLEY (‘Cuthbert Bede’), The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, pt. I., p. 106. His whole person put in chancery, stung, bruised, FIBBED, propped … and otherwise ill-treated.
1865. G. F. BERKELEY, My Life and Recollections, I., 311. As there was no room to hit out, in the phraseology of the ring, I ‘FIBBED’ at half-a-dozen waistcoats and faces with all my might and main.
2. (colloquial and recognised).—To lie.
1694. CONGREVE, The Double Dealer, Act iv., Sc. iii. You FIB, you baggage, you do understand, and you shall understand.
1712. ARBUTHNOT, The History of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. iv. Whereby one may know when you FIB, and when you speak truth.
1755. JOHNSON, A Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. FIB, a cant word amongst children.
1863. ALEX. SMITH, Dreamthorp, p. 11. Could I have FIBBED in these days? Could I have betrayed a comrade?
Also, used substantively = (1) a lie; (2) a liar; see quot., 1862.
1738. SWIFT, Polite Conversation, Dial. 2. If I had said so I should have told a FIB.
1750. FIELDING, Tom Jones, bk. III., ch. iv. Those who will tell one FIB will hardly stick at another.
1773. GOLDSMITH, She Stoops to Conquer, Act iii. Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no FIBS.
1861. H. KINGSLEY, Ravenshoe, chap. 58. ‘Oh! you dreadful FIB,’ said Flora.
1883. HAWLEY SMART, Hard Lines, ch. xix. Mrs. Charrington saw no harm … in the utterance of a pretty FIB; but she refused to place a deliberate lie upon paper.
