to rib
2
3.8
- verb
- /rɪb/
- Informal
:
tomar el pelo a
- He loves to rib his brother about his cooking skills during dinner.
- friends rib someone
- rib each other
- rib someone
Examples
-
What kind of camaraderie do they have, and do you ever rib them at practice?
Blog text (26) -
Just rib him a bit with some mildly insulting nonsense and he loses it completely.
Blog text (8) -
The guy's trying to rib me.
-
Seems somebody's trying to rib you.
-
You wouldn't try to rib us?
-
And Bryce would still rib Simon and give him a hard time.
Fiction book (2001) -
He would rib Junko about her "bonfire buddy."
Fiction book (2002) -
I just wrote to her and the elders at the Middle East Report to tell them next time to be less careless in how they rib me, but it was amusing at one level, I guess.
Blog text (12) -
The song gently ribs the members of the Beatles (including Harrison), whose egos were shifting the band dynamic.
Blog text (34) -
When he and Hamlet are initially talking to the traveling players, Hamlet ribs him by saying that he falls asleep at a performance unless it's a "jig or a tale of bawdry."
Academic text (2002)
Synonyms
∞
3.5
To tease someone in a friendly, playful way
307
2.3
Laugh at someone or say things that make them feel embarrassed
33
5.5
To make fun of someone in a joking way, often in public
25
3.9
To make jokes about someone to make them look silly
23
3.4
To make jokes about someone, sometimes to be playful and sometimes to be unkind
9
4.6
To tease someone in a friendly, playful way
7
6.5
Make fun of someone in a friendly, playful way
5
9.1
To tease someone in a playful or annoying way
1
7.5
To joke or tease someone in a friendly way
1
8.1
To tease someone in a playful way
1
8.7
To make a playful joke or trick someone to make them laugh
1
9.0
To tease or nag someone, often in a playful way
To make fun of someone in a playful way
Compounds
How Teasing
Surface Forms
Etymology
Rib as a verb meaning 'tease' can be remembered by imagining a quick, friendly poke in the ribs, a light 'jab'. So to rib someone is to make a playful joke at them.