A spear for harpooning fish.
1722. At each End of the Canoe stands an Indian, with a Gig, or pointed Spear.—R. B., ‘History of Virginia,’ p. 131. (N.E.D.)
1824. Said the American skipper to his mate, brandishing his fish-gig (a harpoon), “Jack, when I strike the Frenchman, you stand by to play him.”—Mass. Spy, Feb. 4.
1851. He hands Jess a gig. ‘Now,’ ses he, ‘gig him!’—J. J. Hooper, ‘Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs,’ &c., p. 197 (Phila.).
1866. They were prevented from ascending by what appears to have been an ordinary fish gig.—William Parker, ‘The Freedman’s Story,’ Atlantic Monthly, xvii. p. 278 (March).
1880. One of our emigrants, having been informed before he started on the trip that the clear, living waters of the Columbia and its tributaries were full of salmon, had brought all the way from Missouri a three-pronged harpoon, called a gig.—Peter H. Burnett, ‘Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer,’ p. 120.
