What does "rib" mean?
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.
Rib
/ɹɪb/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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.
- Grammar: rib is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: arch rib, banter, bantered, banters.
- Useful contrasts: appreciate, beam, commend.
- Usage evidence: And the Lord God built the rib which He took from Adam into a woman.
How to use "rib"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "rib" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "rib" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "rib" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "rib" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "rib" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "arch rib" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "rib", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
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.
"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."
- 2 Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale).
- 3 Acronym of rigid inflatable boat (“a lightweight inflatable boat with a rigid hull”). abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 4 support resembling the rib of an animal wordnet
- 5 A part or piece, similar to a rib, and serving to shape or support something. broadly
"a broken rib on the umbrella"
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 Costmary (Tanacetum balsamita).
- 7 routing information base Internet
- 8 a projecting molding on the underside of a vault or ceiling; may be ornamental or structural wordnet
- 9 A cut of meat enclosing one or more rib bones.
- 10 Watercress (Nasturtium officinale).
- 11 a riblike supporting or strengthening part of an animal or plant wordnet
- 12 Any of several curved members attached to a ship's keel and extending upward and outward to form the framework of the hull.
- 13 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) wordnet
- 14 Any of several transverse pieces that provide an aircraft wing with shape and strength.
- 15 a teasing remark wordnet
- 16 A long, narrow, usually arched member projecting from the surface of a structure, especially such a member separating the webs of a vault
- 17 cut of meat including one or more ribs wordnet
- 18 A strip of metal running along the top of the barrel that serves as a sighting plane.
- 19 A raised ridge in knitted material or in cloth.
- 20 The main, or any of the prominent veins of a leaf.
- 21 A teasing joke.
- 22 A single strand of hair. Ireland, colloquial
- 23 A stalk of celery.
- 24 A wife or woman. archaic, humorous, literary
"'Near to it was the portrait of his rib, Dame Middleton.'"
Verb
- 1 To shape, support, or provide something with a rib or ribs.
- 2 subject to laughter or ridicule wordnet
- 3 To tease or make fun of someone in a good-natured way.
"He always gets ribbed for his outrageous shirts."
- 4 form vertical ribs by knitting wordnet
- 5 To enclose, as if with ribs, and protect; to shut in.
"It [lead] were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To leave strips of undisturbed ground between the furrows in ploughing (land). transitive
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"And the Lord God built the rib which He took from Adam into a woman."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "rib"?
Common synonyms include: arch rib, banter, bantered, banters, better half, bilge.
How do you use "rib" in a sentence?
And the Lord God built the rib which He took from Adam into a woman.
How do you pronounce "rib"?
Pronounced /ɹɪb/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English ribbe, from Old English ribbe (“hound's-tongue”).