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 or woman): In reference to the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the Bible.
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.
He always gets ribbed for his outrageous shirts.
Mr. Musk, who wore a suit and tie to Thursday’s meeting instead of his usual T-shirt after Mr. Trump publicly ribbed him about his sloppy appearance, defended himself by saying that he had three companies with a market cap of tens of billions of dollars, and that his results spoke for themselves.2025 March 7, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, “Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
3
To enclose, as if with ribs, and protect; to shut in.
It [lead] were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
4
To leave strips of undisturbed ground between the furrows in ploughing (land).
RIB
noun
1
Abbreviation, Acronym Acronym of rigid inflatable boat (“a lightweight inflatable boat with a rigid hull”).
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 or woman): In reference to the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the Bible.
Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences 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.
On an early winter afternoon, clear but not cold, when the vegetable world was a weird multitude of skeletons through whose ribs the sun shone freely, a gleaming landau came to a pause on the crest of a hill in Wessex.1882, Thomas Hardy, chapter I, in Two on a Tower. A Romance. [...] In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 1:
2
Broadly A part or piece, similar to a rib, and serving to shape or support something.
a broken rib on the umbrella
3
A cut of meat enclosing one or more rib bones.
4
Nautical, Transport Any of several curved members attached to a ship's keel and extending upward and outward to form the framework of the hull.
5
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Any of several transverse pieces that provide an aircraft wing with shape and strength.
6
Architecture A long, narrow, usually arched member projecting from the surface of a structure, especially such a member separating the webs of a vault