Noun (2)
the movie is a rib of the "dramatic love story" that was so popular in the 1950s
began to lose his sense of humor after being the butt of his friends' ribs once too often Verb (2)ribbed him a bit about fumbling such an easy play
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The friendly birds are sometimes hand-fed, eating salmon, shrimp and prime rib scraps from the hotel.—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 25 July 2025 Second baseman Jeremy Pena had his career year interrupted by a broken rib in late June that has sidelined him ever since.—Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
Verb
Alongside Scheer and Forte, director Dave Green, Martha Kelly and voice actor Eric Bauza joined the panel to discuss the long journey to this moment, though not without some light ribbing at the… ACME corporation.—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 26 July 2025 Two-piece Swimsuit This ribbed one-shoulder bikini is the perfect addition to any vacation wardrobe.—Melony Forcier, Travel + Leisure, 21 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for rib
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
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
Verb (2) and Noun (2)
probably from rib entry 1; from the tickling of the ribs to cause laughter
First Known Use
Noun (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
: one of the series of curved bones of the chest of most vertebrates that are joined to the spinal column in pairs and help to support the body wall and protect the organs inside
b
: a cut of meat including a rib
2
: something (as a piece of wire supporting the fabric of an umbrella) resembling a rib
3
a
: a major vein of an insect's wing or of a leaf
b
: one of the parallel ridges in a knitted or woven fabric
: any of the paired curved bony or partly cartilaginous rods that stiffen the lateral walls of the body of most vertebrates and protect the viscera, that occur in mammals exclusively or almost exclusively in the thoracic region, and that in humans normally include 12 pairs of which all are articulated with the spinal column at the dorsal end and the first 10 are connected also at the ventral end with the sternum by costal cartilages see false rib, floating rib, true rib
Share