Main Entry: ¹rib

Pronunciation: \ˈrib\

Function: 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 Gen 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

[rib illustration]