rig
Americanverb (used with object)
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rigs,
present (3rd person singular)
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rigged,
past participle, past
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rigging
present participle
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Chiefly Nautical.
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to put in proper order for working or use.
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to fit (a ship, mast, etc.) with the necessary shrouds, stays, etc.
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to fit (shrouds, stays, sails, etc.) to the mast, yard, or the like.
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to manipulate fraudulently.
Two leading companies in the industry were fined for rigging prices.
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to assemble, install, or prepare (often followed byup ).
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to furnish or provide with equipment, clothing, etc.; fit (usually followed by out orup ).
The ground crew rigged us out in leather helmets and bomber jackets.
noun
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rigs
plural
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the arrangement of the masts, spars, sails, etc., on a boat or ship.
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apparatus for some purpose; equipment; outfit; gear.
Bring your rod and reel and all the rest of your fishing rig.
This other PC over here is my main gaming rig.
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Also called drill rig. the equipment used in drilling an oil well.
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any combination trucking unit in which vehicles are hooked together, as a tractor-trailer.
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any kind of truck.
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a carriage, buckboard, sulky, or wagon together with the horse or horses that draw it.
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Informal. costume or dress, especially when odd or conspicuous, or when designated for a particular purpose.
He looks quite nifty in a butler's rig.
verb phrase
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rig up to equip or set up for use.
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rig down to place in an inactive state, stowing all lines, tackles, and other removable parts.
verb
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nautical to equip (a vessel, mast, etc) with (sails, rigging, etc)
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nautical to set up or prepare ready for use
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to put the components of (an aircraft, etc) into their correct positions
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to manipulate in a fraudulent manner, esp for profit
to rig prices
to rig an election
noun
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nautical the distinctive arrangement of the sails, masts, and other spars of a vessel
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In full: drilling rig. the installation used in drilling for and exploiting natural oil and gas deposits
an oil rig
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apparatus or equipment; gear
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an amateur radio operator's transmitting and receiving set
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a carriage together with one or more horses
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an articulated lorry
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rigsimple
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rigssimple
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have riggedperfect
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has riggedperfect
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am riggingprogressive
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are riggingprogressive
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is riggingprogressive
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have been riggingperfect progressive
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has been riggingperfect progressive
Past
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riggedsimple
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had riggedperfect
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was riggingprogressive
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were riggingprogressive
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had been riggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rig
First recorded in 1480–90; 1930–35 rig for def. 2; probably from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian, Swedish rigg (noun), rigga (verb)
Explanation
When you rig something, you connect parts in a way that's so crazy it just might work. You could rig your jeans by using a paper clip to replace a button that pops. Rig can also describe deceiving people to achieve a certain outcome. Voting multiple times, purposely miscounting the number of votes a person received, even throwing out certain people's votes: these are all ways to rig an election. Outraged people say, "The election was fixed!" This doesn't mean it was repaired; it means it was rigged — fraud played a role in the outcome.
Vocabulary lists containing rig
Fear and Loathing in Cleveland: Trump's RNC Acceptance Speech
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Song for a Whale
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"The Flying Machine" by Ray Bradbury
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But I didn’t know that when our rig sounded three long horn blasts as pieces of the roof came down—a signal to evacuate and move to defensive firefighting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Cruise’s Digger Rockwell rises from bed and tries to feed his bizarrely acting cat before learning of an explosion on his oil rig in Greenland.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
And authorities say thieves in some cases have been able to rig them so the chip-and-tap option is disabled, forcing people to swipe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
At one early event, they had to rig a hose to a bar faucet to fill the ice baths.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
A gasket blows five thousand feet underwater beneath an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana, sending millions of barrels of crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Isaias has disrupted oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, as platforms and rigs were evacuated.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Fresno-based Jagroop Singh Deol operates two gas-guzzling rigs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Truckers said they were cooking meals inside their cabs, sleeping where they unhooked their trailers to avoid overnight parking fees and waiting for rainstorms to clean their rigs rather than paying $100 for a wash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Two drilling rigs are set to depart Houston on Monday for a six-day voyage to Venezuela on a cargo vessel called the BBC Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Had he really needed the trucking business that cost him $4 million to move drilling rigs in and out of the oil field?
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
In another lawsuit, he claimed an arcade rigged its claw machines against players, alleging it functioned as “a casino for children.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
And an 'altitude room' being rigged up in his bedroom.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The president’s son was accused by his own former business partner of asking a UFC commentator whether Sunday’s fights were rigged and whether he should place a bet on the opening bout.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Guo, the student in London, is still furious about losing what he considers a rigged bet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
To the west, you could see all the way to the ocean, where an old-looking ship rigged with giant, complicated sails glided down the coast.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Authorities said it was the most voted name in an online poll done in May, but some online media users accused authorities of rigging the vote.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The latest ruling means just two traders still have convictions over interest rate rigging - former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar and former Barclays trader Peter Johnson.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
It has added rigging and fencing businesses and is pursuing work in live events and sports alongside film and TV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The ship lacks the usual clanging metal rigging of a modern sailboat, so the two-hour, $80 journey was nearly silent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The data show that in the sumo tournaments held immediately after allegations of match rigging, 7-7 wrestlers win only 50 percent of their final-day matches against 8-6 opponents instead of the typical 80 percent.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
