ridge

[rij]

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noun

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

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

the back of an animal.

any raised, narrow strip, as on cloth.

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

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

verb (used with object), ridged, ridg·ing.

to provide with or form into a ridge or ridges.

to mark with or as if with ridges.

verb (used without object), ridged, ridg·ing.

to form ridges.

Origin of ridge

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

Related formsridge·like, adjectiveun·ridged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ridge

rim, hill, corrugation, elevation, parapet, ruck, spine, backbone, pole, crease, fold, range, seam, crinkle, plica, wrinkle, rib, furrow, hogback, chine

Examples from the Web for ridge

Contemporary Examples of ridge

High on the slopes of Everest, some 70 sherpas surged over a ridge to see the beating.
Breaking Mount Everest’s Glass Ceiling
Amanda Padoan, Peter Zuckerman
March 30, 2014
He and his friend huffed the iron wheelbarrow up the ridge, lashed it onto the Jeep.
The Ballad of Johnny France
Richard Ben Cramer
January 12, 2014
November drew near, cold below zero—Be thirty below, up the ridge—and still Don and Dan stuck it out.
The Ballad of Johnny France
Richard Ben Cramer
January 12, 2014
He drove the highway to see if tracks led up the ridge toward the smoke.
The Ballad of Johnny France
Richard Ben Cramer
January 12, 2014
Johnny was gone, over the ridge, to Bozeman, for repairs on his snowmobile.
The Ballad of Johnny France
Richard Ben Cramer
January 12, 2014

Historical Examples of ridge

Aylward, Johnston, let your men form a harrow on either side of the ridge.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
We have plenty of room here, and you will have one comfortable night on the Ridge, at any rate.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
I passed you in my buggy when you were coming in with your tent that day on the Ridge.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
To advance further, it was necessary to dislodge the enemy from the ridge.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
Besides, they can rake us with bullets from ambush, while we're climbing up the ridge.
The Rock of Chickamauga
Joseph A. Altsheler

British Dictionary definitions for ridge

ridge

noun

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

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

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

the top of a roof at the junction of two sloping sides
(as modifier)a ridge tile

the back or backbone of an animal, esp a whale

meteorol an elongated area of high pressure, esp an extension of an anticycloneCompare trough (def. 4)

verb

to form into a ridge or ridges

Derived Formsridgelike, adjectiveridgy, adjective

Word Origin for ridge

Old English hrycg; related to Old High German hrucki, Old Norse hryggr

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ridge

Old English hrycg "back of a man or beast," probably reinforced by Old Norse hryggr "back, ridge," from Proto-Germanic *khrugjaz (cf. Old Frisian hregg, Old Saxon hruggi, Dutch rug, Old High German hrukki, German Rücken "the back"), of uncertain origin. Also in Old English, "the top or crest of anything," especially when long and narrow. The connecting notion is of the "ridge" of the backbone. Spelling with -dg- is from late 15c. Ridge-runner "Southern Appalachian person" first recorded 1917.