"gibe" and "atavistic/atavism"

O. Henryの短編 The Enchanted Kiss に出てきた単語です。
But to-night the gibes of his associates had stung him to a feeling of forward, lawless mutiny; a defiant, challenging, atavistic recklessness.
時々 "give" の発音を間違えて "gibe" と言っているかも知れませんが、そんな "gibe" と言う単語がある事さえ知りませんでした。　早速辞書を引きます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
・Dictionary.com: a taunting or sarcastic remark.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionaryを引くと自動的に "jibe" のページにジャンプし、jibe: (US usually gibe):an insulting remark that is intended to make someone look stupid Unlike many other politicians, he refuses to indulge in cheap jibes at other people's expense.
の説明があり、発音は "gibe" も "jibe" もカタカナで書くとジャイブとなり、動詞としても使われることが分かりました。
文の後半に出てくる難しい単語 "atavistic" は "of, pertaining to, or characterized by atavism; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type."(Dictionary.com)とあり、更に "atavism" を見ると：
1. The reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence, usually caused by the chance recombination of genes.
2. An individual or a part that exhibits atavism. Also called throwback.
3. The return of a trait or recurrence of previous behavior after a period of absence.
とありましたが、引用文ではこの3.の意味で使っていると推測します。