rib

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   One of the curved bones that surround and protect your chest.

   He cracked a rib when he fell off his bike.

2. 2
   noun

   A curved part that supports or shapes something, like an umbrella or boat.

   One of the ribs of the umbrella was broken.

3. 3
   verb

   To tease someone in a friendly, good-natured way.

   His friends ribbed him about his outrageous shirt.

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.

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