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

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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

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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

A lateral moraine, a ridge of material left along the side of a glacier, outlines the mouth.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026

They heated a synthetic version of mid-ocean ridge basalt, a type of volcanic rock commonly produced where tectonic plates move apart beneath the oceans.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

He added that dislodged ridge tiles can fall onto driveways and gardens, potentially damaging vehicles.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

The extreme heat is driven by a persistent high-pressure ridge that has parked over the region, causing sinking warming air with very little overnight relief.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

On the left side she leaves it long, and she cuts a ridge of short hair down the middle of my head so that my hair looks very much like the other men and boys.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

For Morrison, left to search for his partner amid the snow, hazardous ridges and cliffs, it all seems like a waste.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026

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

"When we analyzed these samples, we found that their gold concentrations are often several times higher than those of comparable magmas from mid-ocean ridges," says Timm.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 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

He lay flat on his back, staring blankly at the stucco ceiling with its intricate pattern of ridges and veins.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

I chose two: one ridged and heavy, its skin receding from burgundy into a deep, almost plum color; the other a cheerful red beefsteak.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

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

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

The sponge pulls this off via its spiral, ridged outer surface that functions like a spiral staircase.

From Science Daily ● May 17, 2024

He points to a long pink line across the ridged bottom, which is supposed to be green.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Even less certain is whether the blocking, or ridging, pattern associated with heat domes are becoming more frequent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

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

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

Occasionally he checked himself in some alarm, to wonder what meant that ridging of the Cap'n's jaw-muscles, and whether he really heard the seaman's teeth gritting.

From The Skipper and the Skipped Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul by Holman Day

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Related Words

• hill
• rim

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