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rib

Pronunciation: /ɹɪb/

The English word “rib” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.
  2. A part or piece, similar to a rib, and serving to shape or support something.
  3. A cut of meat enclosing one or more rib bones.
  4. Any of several curved members attached to a ship's keel and extending upward and outward to form the framework of the hull.
  5. Any of several transverse pieces that provide an aircraft wing with shape and strength.
  6. A long, narrow, usually arched member projecting from the surface of a structure, especially such a member separating the webs of a vault
  7. A strip of metal running along the top of the barrel that serves as a sighting plane.
  8. A raised ridge in knitted material or in cloth.
  9. The main, or any of the prominent veins of a leaf.
  10. A teasing joke.
  11. A single strand of hair.
  12. A stalk of celery.
  13. A wife or woman.
  14. Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale).
  15. Costmary (Tanacetum balsamita).
  16. Watercress (Nasturtium officinale).

verb

  1. To shape, support, or provide something with a rib or ribs.
  2. To tease or make fun of someone in a good-natured way.
  3. To enclose, as if with ribs, and protect; to shut in.
  4. To leave strips of undisturbed ground between the furrows in ploughing (land).

Etymology

From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“sparerib”), Norwegian ribben (“rib”), Low German ribbe (“rib”), German Rippe (“rib”), Old Norse rif (“rib, reef”), Serbo-Croatian rèbro (“rib”). (wife…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.