bib

A baby wearing a bib (1) while being fed

The bib of an apron (5)

A runner wearing a bib (3) with the number 0798

Football players wearing red bibs (4) during a match

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)
IPA^(key): /bɪb/
Rhymes: -ɪb

Etymology 1

Originally verb sense “drink heartily”, from Middle English bibben, either from Latin bibō (“I drink”) or of imitative origin. Noun sense (clothing) presumably either because worn while drinking, or because the clothing itself “drinks up” spills.^[1]

Noun

bib (plural bibs)

An item of clothing for people (especially babies) tied around their neck to protect their clothes from getting dirty when eating.
Similar items of clothing such as the Chinese dudou and Vietnamese yem.
(sports) A rectangular piece of material, carrying a bib number, worn as identification by competitors.
(sports) A colourful polyester or plastic vest worn over one's clothes, usually to mark one's team during group activities.
Synonym: pinny
The upper part of an apron or overalls.
(cycling) Ellipsis of bib short.
A patch of colour around an animal's upper breast and throat.
- 1950, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Wagtails, Shrikes, Vireos, and their Allies:
  In summer the whole throat and breast are black, but in winter plumage the throat is white bounded by a horseshoe-shaped black bib.
- 2011, Arthur Peacock, Gettysburg the Cat, page 22:
  He don't look anything like the captain. This here cat has got a nice thick black coat of fur with a nice white bib and white feet.
A north Atlantic fish (Trisopterus luscus), allied to the cod.
Synonym: pouting
A bibb (bibcock).

Derived terms

Translations

item of clothing for protecting other clothes while eating

Afrikaans: slabbetjie, borslappie
Arabic: مِرْيَلَة (miryala)
Armenian: կրծկալ (hy) (krckal)
Bashkir: күкрәксә (kükrəksə)
Bulgarian: лигавче n (ligavče), лигавник (bg) m (ligavnik)
Catalan: pitet (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 口水肩 (hau² seoi² gin¹)

Mandarin: 圍兜 / 围兜 (zh) (wéidōu), 圍嘴兒 / 围嘴儿 (zh) (wéizuǐr)
Czech: bryndák (cs) m, bryndáček m
Danish: hagesmæk c, savlesmæk c
Dutch: slabbetje (nl)
Finnish: ruokalappu (fi), leukalappu
French: bavoir (fr) m, bavette (fr) f
German: Lätzchen (de) n, Latz (de) m
Greek: σαλιάρα (el) f (saliára)
Hungarian: partedli (hu), előke (hu)
Icelandic: smekkur (is) m
Indonesian: oto (id)
Ingrian: grudnikka
Irish: bráidín m
Italian: bavaglino (it) m, bavaglio (it) m
Japanese: 涎掛け (よだれかけ, yodare-kake), ビブ (bibu), スタイ (sutai), 当て子 (ateko)
Khmer: អៀម (km) (ʼiəm)
Korean: 턱받이 (teokbaji)
Macedonian: лигавче n (ligavče), портикла f (portikla)
Malay: lapik dada
Maori: pare huare, ārai poho, pare kai
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: шүлсэвч (mn) (šülsevč)

Mongolian: ᠰᠢᠯᠦᠰᠦᠪᠴᠢ (silüsübči)
Norman: bav'thette f (Jersey)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: smekke m or f
Occitan: bavarèl m
Ottoman Turkish: گوگسلك (göğüslük)
Plautdietsch: Schlaub f
Polish: śliniak (pl) m, śliniaczek (pl) m
Portuguese: babador, bibe (pt) m
Romanian: bărbiță (ro) f, bavetă (ro) f
Russian: нагру́дник (ru) m (nagrúdnik), слюня́вчик (ru) m (sljunjávčik)
Serbo-Croatian: opršnjak (sh) m, portikla (sh) f
Slovak: podbradník m
Slovene: slinček m
Spanish: babero (es) m
Swedish: haklapp (sv) c
Tagalog: sapula, salumbaba
Tatar: күкрәкчә (tt) (kükräkçä)
Thai: เอี๊ยม (íiam), เต่า (th) (dtào)
Turkish: önlük (tr)
Ukrainian: слинявчик m (slynjavčyk)
Uzbek: oshxoʻrak (uz)
Vietnamese: yếm dãi (vi)

sports: piece of material carrying the bib number

Finnish: numerolappu
French: dossard (fr) m
German: Startnummer (de) f
Italian: pettorale m
Swedish: nummerlapp (sv)

sports: colourful vest

Catalan: peto (ca) m
Finnish: peliliivi; numeroliivi (with number)
French: chasuble (fr) f
German: Leibchen (de) n, Trainingsleibchen n
Portuguese: colete (pt) m
Spanish: peto (es) m, pechera (es) f

upper part of an apron or overalls

Afrikaans: bef
Czech: lacl (cs) m
Dutch: borstje, salopette
Finnish: rintalappu
French: bavette (fr) f
Irish: bibe m, sciúlán m
Macedonian: лигавче n (ligavče), портикла f (portikla)
Portuguese: peitilho (pt) m
Scottish Gaelic: biob m

patch of colour around an animal's upper breast and throat

Finnish: kurkkulappu

Trisopterus luscus — see pouting

bibcock — see bibcock

Verb

bib (third-person singular simple present bibs, present participle bibbing, simple past and past participle bibbed)

(transitive) To dress (somebody) in a bib.
- 1990, Don Aslett, Don Aslett's Stain-buster's Bible: The Complete Guide to Spot Removal:
  Wise women use them, but new fathers seldom seem to understand that one minute bibbing baby saves who knows how long swabbing, finding clean clothes, changing, and coddling later — not to mention laundry time.
- 2011, Dawn Atkins, The Baby Connection, page 101:
  Mel got Daniel into his chair and bibbed him up.
(intransitive, archaic) To drink heartily; to tipple.
- 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Micheas [Micah] ij:[11], folio xcij, verso, column 2:
  Iff I were a fleſhly felowe, and a preacher of lyes and tolde them that they might ſyt bebbinge and bollynge, and be droncken: O that were a prophet for this people.
- 1693, [John Locke], “§18”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
  they gave him drink as often as he cry'd; so that he was constantly bibbing

Translations

to drink heavily — see tipple

Related terms

Etymology 2

Verb

bib (third-person singular simple present bibs, present participle bibbing, simple past and past participle bibbed)

(informal) To beep (e.g. a car horn).

References

[1]
Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “bib”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

	singular	plural
nominative	bib	bibs
genitive	biba	bibas
dative	bibe	bibes
accusative	bibi	bibis
vocative ¹	o bib!	o bibs!
predicative ²	bibu	bibus