rib

I. noun Etymology: 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 Date: before 12th century 1. a. any of the paired curved bony or partly cartilaginous rods that stiffen the walls of the body of most vertebrates and protect the viscera b. (1) a cut of meat including a rib — see beef illustration (2) a boneless cut of meat (as beef or pork) from a rib section c. [from the account of Eve's creation from Adam's rib in Genesis 2:21-22] wife 2. something resembling a rib in shape or function: as a. (1) a traverse member of the frame of a ship that runs from keel to deck (2) a light fore-and-aft member in an airplane's wing b. one of the stiff strips supporting an umbrella's fabric c. one of the arches in Romanesque and Gothic vaulting meeting and crossing one another and dividing the whole vaulted space into triangles 3. an elongated ridge: as a. (1) a vein of an insect's wing (2) one of the primary veins of a leaf b. one of the ridges in a knitted or woven fabric II. transitive verb (ribbed; ribbing) Date: circa 1547 1. to furnish or enclose with ribs 2. to knit so as to form vertical ridges in • ribber noun III. noun Etymology: 4rib Date: 1929 1. joke 2. parody IV. transitive verb (ribbed; ribbing) Etymology: probably from 1rib; from the tickling of the ribs to cause laughter Date: 1930 to poke fun at ; kid • ribber noun