ribbon: Meaning and Definition of

rib•bon

Pronunciation: (rib'un), [key]
— n.
  1. a woven strip or band of fine material, as silk or rayon, varying in width and finished off at the edges, used for ornament, tying, etc.
  2. material in such strips.
  3. anything resembling or suggesting a ribbon or woven band.
  4. a band of inked material used in a typewriter, adding machine, etc., that supplies ink for printing the figure on the striking typeface onto the paper beneath.
  5. a strip of material, as satin or rayon, being or representing a medal or similar decoration, esp. a military one: an overseas ribbon.
  6. clothes torn to ribbons.
    1. torn or ragged strips; shreds:clothes torn to ribbons.
    2. reins for driving.
  7. a long, thin flexible band of metal, as for a spring, a band saw, or a tapeline.
  8. Also calleda thin horizontal piece let into studding to support the ends of joists.
  9. came
  10. a distinctive narrow band or stripe painted along the exterior of a hull.
  11. ribband (def. 1).
—v.t.
  1. to adorn with ribbon.
  2. to mark with something suggesting ribbon.
  3. to separate into ribbonlike strips.
—v.i.
  1. to form in ribbonlike strips.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also: