ridge

[rij]

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.

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

/ 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

verb

1. to form into a ridge or ridges

ridge

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

Other Word Forms

• ridgelike adjective
• unridged adjective
• ridgy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ridge¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ridge¹

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

Example Sentences

Its skin is coarse and blue, with ridges that cascade down its back like waves.

Read more on Literature

The scientific community has never been able to attach any significance or meaning to the word “ridge.”

Read more on Literature

Pointing at a chaparral-covered ridge, Clark traced the bears’ path into Topanga, pausing her hand at a home surrounded by trees.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

One, published in the master plan, shows a pastoral valley embraced by ridges on the east and west.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Ahead of our return to the city, we drive back up the ridge, back through Burguete, the inn still shuttered, and up to Roncesvalles, where the old monastery looms like a sentinel over the pass.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• hill 
• rim