ridge

American  

[rij] / rɪdʒ /

noun

• ridges
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• ridgelike
  adjective
• ridgy
  adjective
• unridged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ridges
  plural

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

See Examples For:

ridge ridges ridged ridging

The samples also contained gold-to-copper ratios well above those measured in fertile mantle and primitive mid-ocean ridge basalts.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

It’s blended with an almost unreasonable amount of lemon zest and juice before coating every ridge of cavatappi.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

In the San Gabriel Mountains, a blue wind phone stands on a foggy forest ridge near a roadside turnout in Wrightwood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

At least four Israeli soldiers were killed during last week’s advance on Ali al-Taher ridge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

“If you’re going back up the ridge, the next stop after the Pritchards’ is Cully Pone’s.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

How did trucks and tourists and Californians manage the uphills and downhills among inclines and ridges that could be windy or icy or foggy, sometimes all at once?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

The facade has vertical ridges running down the side, which Diamond said was inspired by the ribs of Saguaro cactuses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

"It looked absolutely disgusting, like Sellotape with like little ridges in it," said the 42-year-old from Cardiff.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

Wrinkle structures are small ridges and depressions that can form when microbial communities grow into mats across sandy sediment.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

He looked down on the little hills and ridges below and then out at the huge green Salinas Valley.

From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck

For about $70, a plastic surgeon injected the ridged cartilage of her ears with a hyaluronic-acid filler that caused her ears to perk up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

Tripe stew, nachos, even “mac” and cheese arrive with ridged, cut-up fried dough standing in for potatoes, tortilla chips, or pasta.

From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2025

Some placentas have evolved to be disklike, some are leaf-shaped, some ring-shaped, heart-shaped; some are ridged, branched, labyrinthine, or weblike.

From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2024

Similar ridged, porous surfaces could enhance air filtration and ventilation systems in skyscrapers and other structures.

From Science Daily ● May 17, 2024

I drew two triangles against the ridged surface for the eyes, which Mr. Pirzada dutifully carved, and crescents for eyebrows, and another triangle for the nose.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Upper-level ridging will intensify on Thursday, but not before low clouds and patchy fog likely kick off the day again.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023

As high pressure, or ridging, builds later this week, the inversion is expected to be squashed down, making the marine layer shallower.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2023

Applying a clustering technique to the 124 largest outbreaks, he found four patterns — and in all, there was mid-tropospheric high-pressure ridging centered over different portions of western North America.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 24, 2022

The researchers found that there’s an increased risk of combined ozone and particulate matter pollution during atmospheric ridging events.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 6, 2022

For a second I writhed, then the muscles of my back responded, and I felt them ridging and swelling in resistance.

From A Maid of the Kentucky Hills by Edwin Carlile Litsey

Related Words

• hill
• rim