ribbon
/ˈɹɪbən/
ribbon noun: a long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or gift wrapping. Also the alternative form of ribband.
Noun
ribbon (countable and uncountable, plural ribbons)
- A long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or gift wrapping.
- A Svveet diſorder in the dreſſe / Kindles in cloathes a vvantonneſſe: / […] / A Cuffe neglectfull, and thereby / Ribbands to flovv confuſedly: / […] / Do more bevvitch me, than vvhen Art / Is too preciſe in every part.1648, Robert Herrick, “Delight in Disorder”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC...
- An awareness ribbon.
- With Monday marking the beginning of October’s annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month observance, supporters will be donning their pink ribbons as a show of support for ongoing research for a cure.2018 October 1, Olivia B. Waxman, “Wearing a Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness? Here's How Awareness Ribbons Became a Thing”, in Time, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2020
- An inked strip of material against which type is pressed to print letters in a typewriter or printer.
- Late at night, in the typewriter light / Ripped his ribbon to shreds1989, Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray, “Song for Whoever”, performed by The Beautiful South
- They were single-shift, frontstroke, typebar typewriters with four-bank QWERTY keyboards, inked by a ribbon.2018, Mark J. P. Wolf, The Routledge Companion to Media Technology and Obsolescence
- A narrow strip or shred.
- a steel or magnesium ribbon
- sails torn to ribbons
- In ice cream and similar confections, an ingredient (often chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, or fudge) added in a long narrow strip.
- A painted moulding on the side of a ship.
- A watchspring.
- A bandsaw.
- Reins for a horse.
- "Here, sir, hold the ribbons." This to me, throwing me the reins. Jack got down from his perch, and after a little search in the bush was rewarded by the capture of the poor dazed pigeon, who was consigned to safe custody in the boot.1887, James Inglis, Our New Zealand Cousins
- A bearing similar to the bend, but only one eighth as wide.
- A sliver.
- A subheadline presented above its parent headline.
- A toolbar that incorporates tabs and menus.
- Office programs are drowning in features—and they're crammed into so many different nooks and crannies that even pros don't know where to look. That's where the new ribbon fits in.2007, Chris Grover, Matthew MacDonald, E. A. Vander Veer, Office 2007: The Missing Manual, page 586
- An apparatus with a handle and a long narrow strip of fabric.
- An apparatus program with a ribbon.
Verb
ribbon (third-person singular simple present ribbons, present participle ribboning, simple past and past participle ribboned)
Also used as
ribbon is also the alternative form of ribband.
ribbon meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
ribbon in Hindi
- long, narrow strip of material
- फ़ीता fītā, फीता phītā, रिबन riban
ribbon in Marathi
- फिती, रिबन, फिता
ribbon in Urdu
- long, narrow strip of material
- فِیتَہ fīta, فِیتا fītā
ribbon in Bengali
- long, narrow strip of material
- পটি pṭi, ফিতা phita
More languagesFewer languages
- ribbon in Telugu
- రిబ్బన్, రిబ్బన్ను
- ribbon in Malayalam
- റിബൺ, റിബോൺ
- ribbon in Kannada
- ರಿಬ್ಬನ್, ರಿಬ್ಬನ್ನು
- ribbon in Punjabi
- ਰਿਬਨ, ਰਿੱਬਨ
- ribbon in Gujarati
- રિબન, રીબૉન, રીબૅન
- ribbon in Odia
- ଫିତା, ରିବନ୍, ରିବନ
- ribbon in Nepali
- रिबन, रिबनमा
- ribbon in Tagalog
- ribon
- ribbon in Arabic
- شَرِيط šarīṭ
- ribbon in Malay
- pita
- ribbon in Indonesian
- pita, ban
- ribbon in Thai
- ริบบิ้น ríp-bîn, โบ boo
- ribbon in Vietnamese
- ruy-băng, thanh công cụ
- ribbon in Myanmar
- ဖဲကြိုး hpai:krui:
Examples of ribbon in a sentence
- Here's the measurement – the ribbon must be that long, no longer and no shorter.
- The dough was run through the pasta machine and drawn into a long ribbon.
- Could you unwind about a foot of ribbon so I can finish the package?
Synonyms of ribbon
Forms of ribbon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ribbons |
| alternative form | ribband |
| alternative form (obsolete) | reebon |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ribbons |
| present participle | ribboning |
| past participle | ribboned |
| past | ribboned |
Origin of ribbon
From Middle English riban, ryban, ryband, from Old French riban, ruban ( > modern French ruban), of uncertain origin. Likely from a Germanic compound whose second element is cognate with English band. Compare Middle Dutch ringhband (“necklace”, literally “ring-band”).
Words formed from ribbon
- AIDS ribbon
- awareness ribbon
- beribbon
- blue ribbon
- cut to ribbons
- frosted ribbon loaf
- frosted ribbon sandwich
- green ribbon
- lip-ribbon
- Local Ribbon of Cold Clouds
- magnesium ribbon
- microribbon
- nanoribbon
- pink ribbon
- Portland ribbon wave
- red ribbon
- ribbonback
- ribbon brake
- ribbon cable
- ribbon candy
- ribbon cane
- ribbon cutting
- ribboner
- ribbon farm
- ribbon fern
- ribbonfish
- ribbongrass
- ribbon grass
- ribbon gum
- Ribbonism
- ribbonite
- ribbonization
- ribbonize
- ribbonlength
- ribbonless
- ribbonlike
- ribbon loaf
- ribbonmaker
- Ribbonman
- ribbon map
- ribbon microphone
- ribbon representation
- ribbonry
- ribbon seal
- ribbon snake
- ribbon speaker
- ribbon spread
- ribbon stamp
- ribbontail
- ribbon-tailed astrapia
- ribbonweed
- ribbon wire
- ribbonwood
- ribbon worm
- ribbony
- streamribbon
- tear to ribbons
- yellow ribbon
Phrases with ribbon
Words that rhyme with ribbon
Questions about ribbon
- What does ribbon mean?
- Ribbon means a long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or gift wrapping.
- What is ribbon in Hindi?
- Ribbon in Hindi is फ़ीता (fītā), फीता (phītā), रिबन (riban). See Ribbon meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ribbon?
- Ribbon can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce ribbon?
- Ribbon is pronounced /ˈɹɪbən/.
- What is the plural of ribbon?
- The plural of ribbon is ribbons.
Words near ribbon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ribbon (page history and authors); ribbon (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ribbon (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ribbon.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ribbon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ribbon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.