rib

/ɹɪb/

//ɹɪb// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"rib" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“rib” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,230) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,230
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.

Corpus desk

Index EN-rib · rib · English

rib · rank #13,230 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,230
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH rested

Nearest frequency peer: rested (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “rib”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “rib” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

rib vs RS
0% similar
rib vs RT
0% similar
rib vs RM
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for rib
PropertyValue
Headwordrib
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹɪb/
Letters3
Frequency rank#13,230
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “rib”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).riblands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “rested” (#13,229), “rods” (#13,231), “resemblance” (#13,228). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “rib” is #13,230. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for rib is neighbouring look-alikes ("RS", "RT", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ɹɪb/. Frequency #13,230 among 3,094 “R” headwords. 13 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for rib in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RS", "RT", "RM", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“sparerib”)… The correct English form is rib, spelled R-I-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.
  2. 2
    A part or piece, similar to a rib, and serving to shape or support something.
  3. 3
    A cut of meat enclosing one or more rib bones.
  4. 4
    Any of several curved members attached to a ship's keel and extending upward and outward to form the framework of the hull.
  5. 5
    Any of several transverse pieces that provide an aircraft wing with shape and strength.
  6. 6
    A long, narrow, usually arched member projecting from the surface of a structure, especially such a member separating the webs of a vault
  7. 7
    A strip of metal running along the top of the barrel that serves as a sighting plane.
  8. 8
    A raised ridge in knitted material or in cloth.
  9. 9
    The main, or any of the prominent veins of a leaf.
  10. 10
    A teasing joke.
  11. 11
    A single strand of hair.
  12. 12
    A stalk of celery.
  13. 13
    A wife or woman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how rib appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. On an early winter afternoon, clear but not cold, when the vegetable world was a weird multitude of skeletons through whose ribs the sun shone freely, a gleaming landau came to a pause on the crest of a hill in Wessex.
  2. a broken rib on the umbrella

Etymology

From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“sparerib”), Norwegian ribben (“rib”), Low German ribbe (“rib”), German Rippe (“rib”), Old Norse rif (“rib, reef”), Serbo-Croatian rèbro (“rib”). (wife or woman): In reference to the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the Bible.

This word in other languages

costilla(Español)côte(Français)Rippe(Deutsch)costela(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "rib"?
"rib" is spelled R-I-B. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪb/.
What does "rib" mean?
As a noun, "rib" means: Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.
What words are commonly confused with "rib"?
"rib" is commonly confused with "RS", "RT", "RM". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "rib"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rib" is /ɹɪb/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "rib"?
From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rib", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pas#13,210MMA#13,197ISA#13,178BAE#13,284

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list