rig

American  

[rig] / rɪg /

verb (used with object)

• rigs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rigged,
  past participle,  past
• rigging
  present participle

1. Chiefly Nautical.

   1. to put in proper order for working or use.

   2. to fit (a ship, mast, etc.) with the necessary shrouds, stays, etc.

   3. to fit (shrouds, stays, sails, etc.) to the mast, yard, or the like.

2. to manipulate fraudulently.

   Two leading companies in the industry were fined for rigging prices.

3. to assemble, install, or prepare (often followed byup ).

4. 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.

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noun

• rigs
  plural

1. the arrangement of the masts, spars, sails, etc., on a boat or ship.

2. 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.

3. Also called drill rig. the equipment used in drilling an oil well.

4. any combination trucking unit in which vehicles are hooked together, as a tractor-trailer.

5. any kind of truck.

6. a carriage, buckboard, sulky, or wagon together with the horse or horses that draw it.

7. 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

1. rig up to equip or set up for use.

2. rig down to place in an inactive state, stowing all lines, tackles, and other removable parts.

rig ¹ British  

/ rɪɡ /

verb

1. nautical to equip (a vessel, mast, etc) with (sails, rigging, etc)

2. nautical to set up or prepare ready for use

3. to put the components of (an aircraft, etc) into their correct positions

4. to manipulate in a fraudulent manner, esp for profit

   to rig prices

   to rig an election

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noun

1. nautical the distinctive arrangement of the sails, masts, and other spars of a vessel

2. In full: drilling rig. the installation used in drilling for and exploiting natural oil and gas deposits

   an oil rig

3. apparatus or equipment; gear

4. an amateur radio operator's transmitting and receiving set

5. a carriage together with one or more horses

6. an articulated lorry

rig ² British  

/ rɪɡ /

noun

1. dialect a ridge or raised strip of unploughed land in a ploughed field

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outrig
  verb (used with object)
• overrigged
  adjective
• underrigged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rigs
  plural

Participles

• rigging
  present
• rigged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rig
  simple
• rigs
  simple
• have rigged
  perfect
• has rigged
  perfect
• am rigging
  progressive
• are rigging
  progressive
• is rigging
  progressive
• have been rigging
  perfect progressive
• has been rigging
  perfect progressive

Past

• rigged
  simple
• had rigged
  perfect
• was rigging
  progressive
• were rigging
  progressive
• had been rigging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rig
  simple
• will have rigged
  perfect
• will be rigging
  progressive
• will have been rigging
  perfect progressive

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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)

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rig rigs rigged rigging

Personnel had been evacuated from eight production platforms and two drilling rigs, while another rig was moved out of the storm’s path.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

A decade in the making, this eight-cabinet, horn-loaded, in-the-round custom rig of monolithic wooden speakers will act as the show’s second stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● 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

The sail was heavy and dragged in the water, but JoJo plucked the rig from the sea—mast, surfboard, and all—like it weighed about as much as an inflatable pool toy.

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin

Technology companies have promised autonomous big rigs for years but ran into technological, funding and other hurdles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Isaias has disrupted oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, as platforms and rigs were evacuated.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Oil companies operating in the Gulf are used to temporarily cutting production and evacuating personnel from their rigs given the frequency of storms in the region.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Fresno-based Jagroop Singh Deol operates two gas-guzzling rigs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

At night there was the equally eerie sight of the gas flares, huge fissures of fire coming from the oil rigs where natural gas, an unwanted burden back then, was being burned off.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

The film recounts French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s astonishing 1974 stunt, in which he and a small band of co-conspirators secretly rigged a cable between the towers, allowing Petit to walk high above lower Manhattan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

While working as a guide with Arctic Wildlife Tours, Rikardsen rigged an underwater camera with a motion sensor beneath a seal's breathing hole, and then waited.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The giant screen, which had been rigged to scaffolding, required approval from the state of New Jersey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 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

Let’s imagine for a moment that sumo wrestling is rigged.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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

With its tar-soaked rigging, creaking oak deck and 50 spruce oars, Draken Harald Harfagre is the largest modern replica of a Viking ship.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

To create the sequence, Nolan’s team built a sort of silo on the beach, rigging it with minuscule LED lights to mimic sunlight leaking through chinks in the horse’s hull.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Except for when passengers, after taking turns at rigging, filed below deck to explore the ship’s white-oak skeleton, which flexed and creaked in the current—the ancient sounds of a seafaring world that’s all but lost.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Over the years he’d learned every trade he could get close to—fishing, ship rigging, painting, framing, masonry, plumbing, roofing, tile work, even auto repair.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

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Related Words

• falsify
• fix
• manipulate
• tamper with

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