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ridge

[rij]
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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.
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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.
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verb (used without object), ridged, ridg·ing.
  1. to form ridges.
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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. 2018

Related Words

jagged, corrugated, ribbed, furrowed, striate, toothed, strigose

Examples from the Web for ridged

Historical Examples

  • Very deliberately he struck him across the face with three ridged fingers.

    Slaves of Mercury

    Nat Schachner

  • They rested on ridged earth, black against the cold, grey sky.

    The Long Roll

    Mary Johnston

  • The wall beside us had been smooth, but now it was broken and ridged.

    Beyond the Vanishing Point

    Raymond King Cummings

  • It was all naked rock, ridged and pitted, and everywhere yellow-tinged.

    Beyond the Vanishing Point

    Raymond King Cummings

  • The interior, high ceilinged to the ridged roof, was unbroken by supports.

    Desert Dust

    Edwin L. Sabin

British Dictionary definitions for ridged

ridge

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
    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 anticycloneCompare trough (def. 4)
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verb
  1. to form into a ridge or ridges
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Derived Formsridgelike, adjectiveridgy, adjective

Word Origin

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

n.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ridged in Medicine

ridge

(rĭj)
n.
  1. A long, narrow, or crested part of the body, as on the nose.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
ridged in Science

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. Compare trough.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.