ribbed

Variant of rib

noun

  1. any of the arched bones attached posteriorly to the vertebral column and enclosing the chest cavity: in humans there are twelve pairs of such bones
    1. a cut of meat having one or more ribs
    2. spareribs
  2. a wife: in humorous reference to the Biblical creation of Eve from Adam's rib (Gen. 2:21-22)
  3. a raised ridge in cloth, esp. in knitted material
  4. any of the curved crosspieces extending from the keel to the top of the hull in a ship, forming its framework
  5. the structural crosspieces attached to a spar for shaping and strengthening an airplane wing
  6. any narrow riblike piece used to form, strengthen, or shape something: a rib of an umbrella
  7. Origin: < the rib, sense

    Slang
    1. a teasing or bantering remark or action
    2. a satire or parody
  8. Archit.
    1. a long curved piece in an arch
    2. any of the transverse and intersecting arches of a vault
  9. Bot. any of the main veins in a leaf

Origin: ME ribbe < OE rib, akin to ON rif, Ger rippe < IE base *rebh-, to arch over, roof over > Gr ereptein, to crown, OSlav rebro, rib

transitive verb ribbed, ribbing

  1. to provide, form, or strengthen with a rib or ribs
  2. to put ribs in; mark with ribs
  3. Origin: prob. < rib-tickle

    Slang to tease or make fun of; kid
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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