ridge

American  

[rij] / rɪdʒ /

noun

1. a long, narrow elevation of land; a chain of hills or mountains.

2. the long and narrow upper edge, angle, or crest of something, as a hill, wave, or vault.

3. the back of an animal.

4. any raised, narrow strip, as on cloth.

5. the horizontal line in which the tops of the rafters of a roof meet.

6. (on a weather chart) a narrow, elongated area of high pressure.

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verb (used with object)

ridged, ridging

1. to provide with or form into a ridge or ridges.

2. to mark with or as if with ridges.

verb (used without object)

ridged, ridging

1. to form ridges.

ridge British  

/ rɪdʒ /

noun

1. a long narrow raised land formation with sloping sides esp one formed by the meeting of two faces of a mountain or of a mountain buttress or spur

2. any long narrow raised strip or elevation, as on a fabric or in ploughed land

3. anatomy any elongated raised margin or border on a bone, tooth, tissue membrane, etc

4. 1. the top of a roof at the junction of two sloping sides

   2. ( as modifier )

      a ridge tile

5. the back or backbone of an animal, esp a whale

6. meteorol an elongated area of high pressure, esp an extension of an anticyclone Compare trough

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verb

1. to form into a ridge or ridges

ridge Scientific  

/ rĭj /

1. A long narrow chain of hills or mountains.

2. See mid-ocean ridge

3. A narrow, elongated zone of relatively high atmospheric pressure associated with an area of peak anticyclonic circulation.

4. Compare trough

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Other Word Forms

• ridgelike
  adjective
• ridgy
  adjective
• unridged
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ridge

before 900; Middle English rigge (noun), Old English hrycg spine, crest, ridge; cognate with Dutch rug, German Rücken, Old Norse hryggr

Explanation

A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated strip of land or any raised strip or band. A ridge is a line that rises above what it is attached to. Think of a ridge as a combination between rim and edge. From the Old English hrycg, meaning “back of the man or beast” or “the top or crest” of something (combined, the senses mean “backbone”), ridge is often used for the beam that joins the parts of a sloping roof. Ridge also refers to the line formed by hills or mountains, as in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is made up of mountains that lie underneath the Atlantic Ocean.

Example Sentences

But her lead performance in “Little Bear Ridge Road” is just as deserving of recognition.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

In late April, Altman apologized in a letter to the town of Tumbler Ridge for not alerting police sooner to the activity of Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old transgender woman.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

According to property records, Lively and Reynolds picked up their Pound Ridge estate for $5.7 million in 2012—the same year they married.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026

Seven lawsuits were filed in US court on Wednesday against OpenAI on behalf of families impacted by the February mass shooting in the small Canadian mining town of Tumbler Ridge.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

Ridge was still in Michael’s bed, and Michael was on the floor.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• hill
• rim