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, ridg·ing.

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, ridg·ing.

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. See trough
   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

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˈridgeˌlike, adjective
• ˈridgy, adjective

Other Words From

• ridgelike adjective
• un·ridged 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

Scientists can conclude from those tiny ridges how active someone had been.

From Science News For Students

I don’t know if I’d normally be hiking at eleven o’clock at night, up on some ridge, during a thunderstorm.

From Outside Online

As a mountain-bike trail builder and rider, I have an intimate knowledge of the contours of the forest, of each ridge and each drainage.

From Outside Online

One, which came to be known as the CZU Lightning Complex fire, was burning across the ridges and through the canyons towards Nichols’s house.

From Outside Online

The traditional “river groover” is an ammo can with an airtight top, which cuts ridges in your behind if you sit on it for too long—hence the name.

From Outside Online

The fundamental issue: the boundaries of the underwater Lomonosov Ridge.

From The Daily Beast

That should immediately destroy any illusions about how “libertarian” the Liberty Ridge ruling might be.

From The Daily Beast

This vision, in the context of the incident at Liberty Ridge, reveals a substantial weakness in our constitutional framework.

From The Daily Beast

To dwell on that for a moment is to get a sharp taste of the overarching issue that Liberty Ridge raises for us.

From The Daily Beast

High on the slopes of Everest, some 70 sherpas surged over a ridge to see the beating.

From The Daily Beast

With this company he had rendered valiant service in the campaign which ended with the battle of Pea Ridge.

From Project Gutenberg

A short distance off was another ridge or spur of the mountain, widening out into almost a plateau.

From Project Gutenberg

I turned away from the bank and raced up a long slope to a saw-backed ridge that promised largely of unobstructed view.

From Project Gutenberg

It lit up every ridge and hollow for two or three seconds, and showed me four riders tearing up the slope at a high run.

From Project Gutenberg

It was kind of Josiah to come, for he is an old man and lives a full mile above the village, half way up the ridge-side.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hill
• rim