Link Centre Dictionary

rib

UK/ɹɪb/ US/ˈrɪb/ fairly common literary
noun (6) verb (2)

noun

1.

support resembling the rib of an animal

2.

any of the 12 pairs of curved arches of bone extending from the spine to or toward the sternum in humans (and similar bones in most vertebrates)

Synonyms
3.

cut of meat including one or more ribs

4.
5.
6.

verb

1.

form vertical ribs by knitting

  • “A ribbed sweater”
2.

subject to laughter or ridicule

  • “The satirists ridiculed the plans for a new opera house”
  • “The students poked fun at the inexperienced teacher”
  • “His former students roasted the professor at his 60th birthday”
Synonyms

Origin

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 or woman): In reference to the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the Bible.

Phrases

  • abdominal rib
  • baby back rib
  • beef rib
  • chuck rib
  • false rib
  • floating rib
  • flying rib
  • lierne rib

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.