rib
verb/rɪb/
/rɪb/
(old-fashioned, informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they rib | /rɪb/ /rɪb/ |
| he / she / it ribs | /rɪbz/ /rɪbz/ |
| past simple ribbed | /rɪbd/ /rɪbd/ |
| past participle ribbed | /rɪbd/ /rɪbd/ |
| -ing form ribbing | /ˈrɪbɪŋ/ /ˈrɪbɪŋ/ |
- rib somebody (about/over something) to laugh at somebody and make jokes about them, but in a friendly way synonym tease
- He used to rib her mercilessly about her accent.
Word OriginOld English rib, ribb (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch rib(be) and German Rippe. The sense ‘tease’ was originally a US slang usage meaning ‘to fool, dupe’ (1930s).
Check pronunciation:
rib