ridge

[rij] /rɪdʒ/
noun
1.
a long, narrow elevation of land; a chain of hills or mountains.
2.
the long and narrow upper edge, angle, or crest of something, as a hill, wave, or vault.
3.
the back of an animal.
4.
any raised, narrow strip, as on cloth.
5.
the horizontal line in which the tops of the rafters of a roof meet.
6.
(on a weather chart) a narrow, elongated area of high pressure.
verb (used with object), ridged, ridging.
7.
to provide with or form into a ridge or ridges.
8.
to mark with or as if with ridges.
verb (used without object), ridged, ridging.
9.
to form ridges.
Origin
before 900; Middle English rigge (noun), Old English hrycg spine, crest, ridge; cognate with Dutch rug, German Rücken, Old Norse hryggr
Related forms
ridgelike, adjective
unridged, adjective
Examples from the web for ridge
  • To make the folded-roof model fold the mud flat in half along the center ridge.
  • There's a ridge at the bottom of the high-res photo that's part of a heavily eroded outer ring.
  • Also, the moon has a giant raised ridge around its equator, kilometers high.
  • Army snipers climbed the ridge but came under fire from rebel anti-aircraft guns mounted on pick-up trucks.
  • But during warm interglacial periods, sea levels rose and the chalk ridge was the only link.
  • The two promontories are the tip of the nose and the ridge of the brow.
  • They cut their peat from the high ridge and harvested fish from the sea.
  • The blinds open to unveil a view of a foothill ridge dusted with snow.
  • However, ash has been found at mid-ocean ridge vents, suggesting a more explosive component to the eruption.
  • Flying close to a mountain ridge in a sailplane does not engender the same fears as walking close to the edge of that ridge.
British Dictionary definitions for ridge

ridge

/rɪdʒ/
noun
1.
a long narrow raised land formation with sloping sides esp one formed by the meeting of two faces of a mountain or of a mountain buttress or spur
2.
any long narrow raised strip or elevation, as on a fabric or in ploughed land
3.
(anatomy) any elongated raised margin or border on a bone, tooth, tissue membrane, etc
4.
  1. the top of a roof at the junction of two sloping sides
  2. (as modifier): a ridge tile
5.
the back or backbone of an animal, esp a whale
6.
(meteorol) an elongated area of high pressure, esp an extension of an anticyclone Compare trough (sense 4)
verb
7.
to form into a ridge or ridges
Derived Forms
ridgelike, adjective
ridgy, adjective
Word Origin
Old English hrycg; related to Old High German hrucki, Old Norse hryggr
Word Origin and History for ridge
n.

Old English hrycg "back of a man or beast," probably reinforced by Old Norse hryggr "back, ridge," from Proto-Germanic *khrugjaz (cf. Old Frisian hregg, Old Saxon hruggi, Dutch rug, Old High German hrukki, German Rücken "the back"), of uncertain origin. Also in Old English, "the top or crest of anything," especially when long and narrow. The connecting notion is of the "ridge" of the backbone. Spelling with -dg- is from late 15c. Ridge-runner "Southern Appalachian person" first recorded 1917.

ridge in Medicine

ridge (rĭj)
n.
A long, narrow, or crested part of the body, as on the nose.

ridge in Science
ridge
  (rĭj)   

  1. A long narrow chain of hills or mountains.

  2. See mid-ocean ridge.

  3. A narrow, elongated zone of relatively high atmospheric pressure associated with an area of peak anticyclonic circulation. Compare trough.