kibosh
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L332094 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkaɪˌbɒʃ/ / /kɪˈbɑʃ/ / /ˈkaɪˌbɑʃ/
noun
Etymology: Origin unknown.
- Chiefly preceded by the: fashion, style.
“She was, in very Sooth, among the highest of the Rollers, but Hiram stood for the Bills with nary a Whimper. He was proud to be the Husband of the Lady Ki-Bosh of the Local Knickerbockers.”
verb
Etymology: The origin of the noun is uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested: * According to Gerald Leonard Cohen, Stephen Goranson, and Matthew Little, at present the most likely derivation is as a non-rhotic variant of kurbash (“heavy whip, lash”), from Arabic كُرْبَاج (kurbāj, “lash, whip”), or from its etymon Ottoman Turkish قرباچ (kırbaç, “lash, whip”) (whence Turkish kırbaç (“whip”)). * From Irish caidhp bháis (literally “death cap”), said to denote, among other things, the black cap worn by English judges when pronouncing the death sentence, the hood put on a person before they were put to death by hanging, or a form of torture called pitchcapping. However, there appears to be no convincing evidence that the term was used in these senses. * From a Yiddish word (compare Hebrew כָּבַשׁ (kavásh, “to conquer, subjugate”)); however, no such word has been found. * From Middle English cabochen (“to cut off (the head, chiefly of a deer), behead”), from Middle French cabocher (“to cut off (the head)”), from caboche (“the head”) (Northern France, informal) (whence Middle English caboche (“head of cabbage”)), from Italian capocchia (“the head”) (derogatory), ultimately from Latin caput (“the head”). The Middle English word is said to have been adopted in Cockney slang; however, how this is supposed to have happened remains unexplained * A clogmakers’ term kibosh (“iron bar about a foot long that, when hot, is used to soften and smooth leather”). The verb is derived from the noun.
- To decisively put a stop to or terminate (someone or something).
“Philly Kiboshes Blackout Tutoring [title] […] Plan of the Pennsylvania State Council of Defense to ring in a State-wide network of 45 stations for an "educational" blackout test, was nixed by the Office of Censorship after it was okayed by the Third Service Command of the army. Skedded for Thursday (8), purpose of the broadcast was to educate public with air raid warning signals and all Pennsylvanians were urged to listen to instructions as broadcast.”
“Deal for network star Henry Morgan to sign a Majestic contract for two albums has fallen thru, with Paul Baron, newly-named artist and repertoire topper at the diskery, kiboshing a deal that virtually had been consummated between his predecessors and Music Corporation of America (MCA).”