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# rib

«rib» in Mova's school dictionary: **One of the curved bones around your chest that protect…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a rib, ribs); verb (rib, ribs, ribbed, ribbing — informal: to tease)

### meaning for a pupil

1) One of the curved bones around your chest that protect your heart and lungs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#m1)

2) A piece of meat with a rib bone in it (spare ribs). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#m2)

3) A curved strip that supports something, like the ribs of an umbrella, a boat or a leaf. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#m3)

4) (informal) To tease someone in a friendly way. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science, the ribs form the rib cage, part of the skeleton: humans have 12 pairs (24 ribs); the rib cage protects the heart and lungs and moves when you breathe. In safety, cycling and contact sports can bruise or crack ribs. In cooking, ribs are a meat dish. Phrases: rib cage, spare ribs, a cracked rib, dig in the ribs (a poke), rib-tickling (very funny).

### examples

- Your ribs protect your heart and lungs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x1)
- Put your hands on your ribs and feel them move as you breathe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x2)
- Humans have twelve pairs of ribs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x3)
- He cracked a rib when he fell off his bike. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x4)
- We had barbecued ribs for dinner. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x5)
- The umbrella had a broken rib. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x6)
- My brother likes to rib me about my haircut. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x7)
- ‘Husband,’ said she, poking him in the ribs with her elbows, ‘wake up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/#x8)

### note

Countable: a rib, ribs. Past of the verb: ribbed. Myth: men and women have the same number of ribs — 24. «Rib cage» is two words.

### In the corpora

- [A tortoise's shell is part of its skeleton, joined to its ribs and backbone, so it can never leave it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles/10/)
- [Think of a python in a museum skeleton: it looks like a long zip with a rib on each side of every tooth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/321-big-snakes-pythons-boas-and-anacondas-and-how-big-they-really-get/7/)
- [A few people have an extra small rib in the neck.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/357-bones-by-name-the-skull-jaw-spine-and-ribs/14/)
- [A stitch is a sharp pain under the ribs while running.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/37-warming-up-stitches-and-cramp/2/)
- [The ribs protect the heart and the lungs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/31-skeleton-and-muscles/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «rib» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rib/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.