rib

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 [C] any of the curved bones that are connected to the SPINE and surround the chest: a broken / bruised / cracked rib * Stop poking me in the ribs! seealsoRIBCAGE 2 [U,C] a piece of meat with one or more bones from the ribs of an animal seealsoPRIMERIB, SPARERIB 3 [C] a curved piece of wood, metal or plastic that forms the frame of a boat, roof, etc. and makes it stronger: a roof with rib vaulting 4 [U,C] a way of knitting that produces a pattern of vertical lines in which some are higher than others: a rib cotton sweater IDIOMS see DIGv. verb (-bb-) [VN] ~ sb (about / over sth) (old-fashioned, informal) to laugh at sb and make jokes about them, but in a friendly way: He used to rib her mercilessly about her accent.