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.

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for ridged

A hundred summer sunsets glowed in the yellow corn that lay massed in ridged and burnished splendor.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 95, September 1865|Various
Higher, the roseate whiteness of ridged snow on Alps or Apennines.
Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece|John Addington Symonds
The cones are three to five inches long, with ridged scales set with prickles.
Trees Every Child Should Know|Julia Ellen Rogers
Millions of lice swarmed over the wasted limbs and ridged ribs.
Andersonville, Volume 2|John McElroy

The fillets are not so well 290 smoothed down on the interior surface as usual, a ridged appearance being the result.
Pottery of the ancient Pueblos. (1886 N 04 / 1882-1883 (pages 257-360))|William Henry Holmes

British Dictionary definitions for ridged

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 ridged

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.