Definition of RIDGE

ridge

Plural: ridges

Noun

  • a long narrow natural elevation or striation
  • any long raised strip
  • a long narrow natural elevation on the floor of the ocean
  • a long narrow range of hills
  • any long raised border or margin of a bone or tooth or membrane
  • a beam laid along the edge where two sloping sides of a roof meet at the top; provides an attachment for the upper ends of rafters
  • The back of any animal; especially the upper or projecting part of the back of a quadruped.
  • Any extended protuberance; a projecting line or strip.
  • The line along which two sloping surfaces meet which diverge towards the ground.
  • The highest point on a roof, represented by a horizontal line where two roof areas intersect, running the length of the area.
  • The highest portion of the glacis proceeding from the salient angle of the covered way.
  • A chain of mountains.
  • A chain of hills.
  • A long narrow elevation on an ocean bottom.
  • An elongated region of high atmospheric pressure.

Verb

  • extend in ridges
    • "The land ridges towards the South"
  • plough alternate strips by throwing the furrow onto an unploughed strip
  • throw soil toward (a crop row) from both sides
    • "He ridged his corn"
  • spade into alternate ridges and troughs
    • "ridge the soil"
  • form into a ridge
  • To form into a ridge.
  • To extend in ridges.

Examples

  • "mountain ridge"
  • "The plough threw up ridges of earth between the furrows."

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English rigge, rygge, (also rig, ryg, rug), from Old English hryċġ (“back, spine, ridge, elevated surface”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrugi, from Proto-Germanic *hrugjaz (“back”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krewk-, *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).
Cognate with Scots rig (“back, spine, ridge”), North Frisian reg (“back”), West Frisian rêch (“back”), Dutch rug (“back, ridge”), German Rücken (“back, ridge”), Swedish rygg (“back, spine, ridge”), Icelandic hryggur (“spine”). Cognate to Albanian kërrus (“to bend one's back”) and kurriz (“back”).

Antonyms

groove, trough

Scrabble Score: 7

ridge is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
ridge is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
ridge is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

ridge is a valid Words With Friends word