Noun (2)
the movie is a rib of the "dramatic love story" that was so popular in the 1950s
began to lose his sense of humor after being the butt of his friends' ribs once too often Verb (2)ribbed him a bit about fumbling such an easy play
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Noun
The emaciated bulldog — just 23 pounds with his ribs visible — had been stuffed inside the bag and abandoned along an Iowa roadway, according to the Des Moines Police Department.—Mike Stunson, Kansas City Star, 29 Jan. 2025 In a small bowl or measuring cup with a handle, place balsamic, pomegranate juice, honey, and water; stir to combine and pour over ribs.—Cathy Thomas, Orange County Register, 28 Jan. 2025
Verb
This cardigan has spacious sleeves with a unique ribbed cuff detal, and more than 50 shoppers have purchased it in the past month.—Nicol Natale, People.com, 30 Jan. 2025 His first clothing drop included ribbed dresses, skirts, and crop tops in up to size XXXL.—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 29 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for rib
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English, from Old English ribb; akin to Old High German rippi rib, Old Church Slavic rebro, and probably to Greek erephein to roof over
Verb (2) and Noun (2)
probably from rib entry 1; from the tickling of the ribs to cause laughter
First Known Use
Noun (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
: one of the series of curved bones of the chest of most vertebrates that are joined to the spinal column in pairs and help to support the body wall and protect the organs inside
b
: a cut of meat including a rib
2
: something (as a piece of wire supporting the fabric of an umbrella) resembling a rib
3
a
: a major vein of an insect's wing or of a leaf
b
: one of the parallel ridges in a knitted or woven fabric
: any of the paired curved bony or partly cartilaginous rods that stiffen the lateral walls of the body of most vertebrates and protect the viscera, that occur in mammals exclusively or almost exclusively in the thoracic region, and that in humans normally include 12 pairs of which all are articulated with the spinal column at the dorsal end and the first 10 are connected also at the ventral end with the sternum by costal cartilages see false rib, floating rib, true rib
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