Webster's English Dictionary

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rib

1. rib \'rib\ n [ME, fr. OE; akin to OHG rippi rib, Gk erephein to roof 
   over] [fr. the account of Eve's creation from Adam's rib, Gen 2:21-22] 1a: 
   one of the paired curved bony or partly cartilaginous rods that stiffen  
   the walls of the body of most vertebrates and protect the viscera 1b: a cut 
   of meat including a rib  1c: WIFE  2: something resembling a rib in shape 
   or function : as  2a1: a traverse member of the frame of a ship that runs 
   from keel to deck  2a2: a light fore-and-aft member in an airplane's wing  
   2b: one of the stiff strips supporting an umbrella's fabric  2c: one of the 
   arches in Romanesque and Gothic vaulting meeting and crossin g one another 
   and dividing the whole vaulted space into triangles 3: an elongated ridge : 
   as  3a1: a vein of an insect's wing  3a2: one of the primary veins of a 
   leaf  3b: one of the ridges in a knitted or woven fabric 
2. rib vt or ribbed;  or rib.bing 1: to furnish or enclose with ribs  2: to 
   form vertical ridges in knitting  - rib.ber n
3. rib vt or ribbed;  or rib.bing [prob. fr. 1rib; fr. the tickling of the 
   ribs to cause laughter] : to poke fun at : KID  - rib.ber n
4. rib n 1: JOKE  2: PARODY