[rib] n [ME, fr. OE ribb; akin to OHG rippi rib, OCS rebro, and prob. to Gk erephein to roof over] (bef. 12c) 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: a cut of meat including a rib--see beef illustration c [fr. 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
[2]rib vt ribbed ; rib.bing (ca. 1547) 1: to furnish or enclose with ribs
2: to form vertical ridges in in knitting -- rib.ber n [3]rib n [[4]rib] (1929) 1: joke
2: parody [4]rib vt ribbed ; rib.bing [prob. fr. [1]rib; fr. the tickling of the ribs to cause laughter] (1930): to poke fun at: kid -- rib.ber n