jive

I. n

1.

deceitful or pretentious talk or behaviour, nonsense.

See also jive talk

2.

a style of fast dancing to accompany swing music or rock 'n' roll

Both senses of the term originate in black American slang of unknown etymology (it may be from jibe in the sense of change tack, manoeuvre - in conversation or dance - but is more probably derived from a West African dialect term).

3.

American

marihuana. A now obsolete usage.

II. vb

1.

to deceive, tease, browbeat. A black American term from the early 20th century which enjoyed a vogue among black and white speakers in the late 1980s. For the possible origins of the word, see the noun form.

► 'It was always about the man, how they were going to jive the man into giving them a million dollars.' (The Switch, Elmore Leonard, 1978)

2.

to dance in a fast energetic style which corresponded in the 1940s to swing music and from the 1950s to rock 'n' roll