jeer

Etymology 1

From earlier gyr, probably from Dutch gieren (“to roar with laughter, laugh loudly”) (related to German gieren (“to gape, snap”)); or from Dutch gekscheren (“to jeer”, literally “to shear the fool”), from gek (“a fool”) (see geck) + scheren (“to shear”) (see shear (verb)). The OED states no verifiable connection to English cheer.

noun

1. A mocking remark or reflection.
   1711, Jonathan Swift, The Fable of Midas, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Vol XII, Sir Walter Scott, ed., Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1824, pages 302-5, Midas, exposed to all their jeers, Had lost his art, and kept his ears.

verb

1. (intransitive, with at) To utter sarcastic or mocking comments; to speak with mockery or derision; to use taunting language.
   At the end of a frantic first 45 minutes, there was still time for Charlie Adam to strike the bar from 20 yards before referee Atkinson departed to a deafening chorus of jeering from Everton's fans. October 1, 2011, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
2. (transitive, archaic) To mock; treat with mockery; to taunt.

Etymology 2

Compare gear.

noun

1. (nautical) A gear; a tackle.
2. (nautical, in the plural) An assemblage or combination of tackles, for hoisting or lowering the yards of a ship.
   In the nineteenth century, 1811 to be exact, the jeers were unrove after the yard was slung, the weight of the yard being borne by chain slings. The jeers used then were a treble block lashed to the mast head through a hole in the center of the top 1984, James Lees, The masting and rigging of English ships of war, 1625-1860, page 65