Ribbing

//ˈɹɪbɪŋ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The action of the verb to rib; teasing. uncountable

    "I wish I'd had 30 dollars to lend her, it would have saved me a lot of ribbing at school."

  2. 2
    the act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances wordnet
  3. 3
    A rib, or the collective ribs, on an object. countable, uncountable

    "The decoration found on the stems are perpendicular ribbings, ordinary rounded mouldings, and perpendicular lobings."

  4. 4
    a framework of ribs wordnet
  5. 5
    An instance of teasing. countable
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of rib form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    jesting; joking

Synonyms

All synonyms
banterbanteringembroideryfoolingjestingjoking

Example

More examples

"Tom copped a fair bit of ribbing about his battered old car."

Etymology

From rib (“tease”, verb) + -ing; from the common practice of tickling the ribs to cause laughter.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.