ribbing

From rib (“tease”, verb) +‎ -ing; from the common practice of tickling the ribs to cause laughter.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪbɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪbɪŋ

ribbing

1. present participle and gerund of rib

ribbing (countable and uncountable, plural ribbings)

1. (uncountable) The action of the verb to rib; teasing.
   • 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 114:

     I wish I'd had 30 dollars to lend her, it would have saved me a lot of ribbing at school.

   • 2013 January 18, Nicholas Kulish, “Swabian Separatists Fling Spätzle to Make Their Point”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The good-natured ribbing masks some serious points of contention not only within Berlin but also in German society as a whole.

2. (countable, uncountable) A rib, or the collective ribs, on an object.
   • 1919, MacIver Percival, The Glass Collector: A Guide to Old English Glass, page 31:

     The decoration found on the stems are perpendicular ribbings, ordinary rounded mouldings, and perpendicular lobings.

3. (countable) An instance of teasing.

• Gribbin, bribing