ribible 
ribiblet (ri-bib'D. . [ME. ribihlc, i-iibihlf: see 
rihihr, rflici:] Same as ribibe. 
In twenty manere koude he trippe and dauiu-. , . 
And pleyen songes on a smal rufnble. 
Chaucer. Miller's Tale, 1. 145. 
Where, my friend, is your fiddle, your ribible, or such- 
like instrument belonging to a minstrel? 
Quoted in StrvU't Sports and Pastimes, p. 271. 
ribibourt, [ME. ribibour, < OF. "ribibour, < 
ribibe, a ribibe : see ribibe.] One who plays on 
the ribibe. 
A ribibour, a ratonere, a rakyer of Chepe. 
Piers Ploivman (B), v. 322. 
ribless (rib'les), . [< rifti + -less.] 1. Hav- 
ing no ribs. 2. So fat that the ribs cannot be 
felt. 
Where Toil shall call the charmer Health his bride, 
And Laughter tickle Plenty's ribless side ! 
Coleridge, To a Young Ass. 
riblet (rib'let), ii. [< riftl + -let.] A little rib: 
a rudimentary rib ; a vertebral pleurapophysis 
not developed into a free and functional rib : 
as, a cervical riblet of man. Seepburopcpkfvfe. 
The surface has longitudinal ridges, which on the hinder 
moiety of the valve are connected by transverse riblets. 
Geol. Mai/., IV. 451. 
rib-like (rib'lik), a. [< rib 1 + like.] Resem- 
bling a rib ; of the nature of a rib. 
Jliblilce cartilaginous rods appear in the first, second, 
and more or fewer of the succeeding visceral arches in all 
but the lowest Vertebrata. Huxley, Anat. Vert, p. 22. 
rib-nosed (rib'nozd), a. Having the side of the 
snout ribbed; rib-faced, as a baboon. See 
mandrill, and cut under baboon. 
ribont, An obsolete form of ribbon. 
ribosa (ri-bp'sa), H. Sam as rebozo. 
rib-piece (rib'pes), . A rib-roast. 
rib-roast (rib'rost), n. 1. A joint of meat for 
roasting which includes one or more ribs of 
the animal. 2. A beating or drubbing; a 
cudgeling. 
Such a peece of niching is as punishable with ribroast 
among the turne-spits at Pie Corner. 
Maroccus Extaticus (1595). (Uallimll. ) 
rib-roast (rib'rost), . t. [< ri'&l + roast, r.] 
To beat soundly ; cudgel ; thrash. 
Tom, take thou a cndgell and rib-roost him. 
Let me alone, quoth Tom, I will be-ghost him. 
Rowland, Xight-Kaven (1620). (flares.) 
But much I scorne my fingers should be foule 
With beating such a durty dunghill-owle. 
But I'll rib-roast thee and bum-bast thee still 
With my enraged muse and angry quill. 
John Taylor, Works (1630). (ffarei.) 
I have been pinched in flesh, and well rib-roasted under 
my former masters ; but I'm in now for skin and all. 
Sir K. L'Estrange. 
rib-roaster (rib'ros'ter), ii. A heavy blow on 
the ribs; a body-blow. [Colloq.] 
There was some terrible slugging. . . . In the fourth and 
last round the men seemed afraid of each other. Cleary 
planted two rib-roasters, and a tap on Langdon's face. 
Philadelphia Times, May 6, 1886. 
rib-roasting (rib'ros"ting), . A beating or 
drubbing; a cudgeling. 
That done, he rises, humbly bows, 
And gives thanks for the princely blows ; 
Departs not meanly proud, and boasting 
Of his magnificent rib roasting. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, n. i. 248. 
Every day or two he was sure to get a sound rib-roasting 
for some of his misdemeanors. 
Iroing, Knickerbocker, p. 835. 
rib-rqostt, r. t. See rib-roast. 
ribskint, . [Early mod. E. rybskyn, < ME. ryb- 
schyn (alfeo rubbynge-sJiin); < ri&3 + skin.] A 
piece of leather worn in flax-dressing. Com- 
pare trip-skin. IJalliwell. 
Theyr rybskyn and theyr spyndell. 
Skeltan, Elynour Eummjmg, 1. 299. 
rib-stitch (rib'stich), /. In crochet-work, a 
stitch or point by which a fabric is produced 
having raised ridges alternately on the one side 
and the other. 
Ribston pippin. [From Kibston, in Yorkshire, 
where Sir Henry Goodricke planted three pips 
obtained from Rouen in Normandy. Two died, 
but one survived to become the parent of all the 
Ribston apples in England. (Brewer.)] A fine 
variety of winter apple. 
rib-vaulting (rib'val"ting), . In arc//., vault- 
ing having ribs projecting below the general 
surface of the ceiling for support or ornament. 
ribwort (rib'wert), it. See plantain*. 
-ric. [< ME. -rirlu', -rickc, used in comp., as in 
bischoji-, kiui'-. l.-iiiii-, weoreld-, eortli-, lieoren- 
riclie, realm, jurisdiction, power, of a bishop, 
king, the world, earth, heaven, etc.: same as 
ME. riche, < AS. rice, reign, realm, dominion: 
see ricliel, .] A termination denoting jurisdic- 
5166 
tion, or a district over which government is 
exercised. It occurs in bixlmprir, and a few 
words now obsolete. 
Ricania (ri-ka'ni-ij ), . [NL. (Germar, 1818).] 
The typical genus of l'iciimiii;i . 
Ricaniidse (rik-a-ui'i-de), n. pi. [NL.. < I!i<-<mi<i 
+ -iilse.] A la'i-ge family of homopterotis in- 
sects, typified by the genus liicanin, belonging 
to the group l-'ii/</<>ii<l<i. n Includes many beautiful 
and striking tropical and subtropical forms. Also, as a 
subfamily, Jiicaniida, Jiicaninas. 
Ricardian (ri-kar'di-an), ii. and it. [< Kii-m-iln 
(see def.) + -fan.] T. a. Pertaining to or char- 
acteristic of David Eicardo, an English politi- 
cal economist (1772-1823), or his theories. 
It Is interesting to observe that Malthus, though the 
combination of his doctrine of population with the prin- 
ciples of Rieardo composed the creed for some time pro- 
fessed by all the ''orthodox " economists, did not himself 
accept the Ricardian scheme. Kncye. Brit., XIX. 37fi. 
II. n. An adherent or follower of Rieardo. 
Though in his great work he IRau] kept clear of the 
exaggerated abstraction of the Ricardians, and rejected 
rice-milk 
sai.l liy chance. The finest quality is produced in the 
United states, South Carolina and (Jeorgia leading in 
amount; but the production has considerably declined 
since the civil war. Canada rice. Same as Indian rice. 
False rice, a grass of the rice-like genus Leergia. 
Hungary rice, a corruption of hunyry rice. Hungry 
rice. Same as /imrfi Indian rice, (a) A reed-like 
^rtas.s, y.izniti'i 'I'fiititicii, cMMimoM in shallow water in east- 
ern North America, and especially abundant northwest- 
ward. The seeds, which are slender and half an inch long, 
are tartuceotu. much eaten by birds, and largely gathered 
by the Indians in canoes ; but they fall so easily as to ren- 
der the plant unfit for cropping, even if otherwise worthy. 
The straw has been recommended as a paper-stock. Its 
height and large monoecious panicle render it a striking 
plant. A more southerly species, Z. miliacea, is included 
under the name. Also called Canada or mid rice, and In- 
dian oats or trater-nati. (b) Kice produced in India. Mil- 
let-rice, the East Indian I'anicum colonwn. Petty-rice. 
See Quinon. Rice cut-grass, see cut-grass. Rice- 
grain decoration, in ceram., a kind of decoration used 
in porcelain, especially Chinese, and In fine earthen- 
ware, as sometimes in Persian work. The paste of a eup 
or bowl is cut through with a stamp bearing small leaf- 
shaped or oval openings ; the vessel being dipped in the 
glaze and then fired, the glaze fills these openings com- 
pletely, leaving translucent spots in the opaque vessel. 
Occasionally the openings are of different shapes, as small 
ricasso (ri-kas'6), . [Origin obscure.] That 
part of the blade of a rapier which is included 
between the outermost guard (see cup-guard, 
counter-guurd) and the cross-guard, or the point 
of connection between the blade and the hilt, 
In the rapier of the sixteenth century this part was nar- 
rower and thicker than the blade proper, and usually rec- 
tangular in section. Compare heeli, 2 (e), and talon, and 
see cut under hilt. 
Riccati's equation. [Named after Count Jaco- 
\)0 Siecati (1676-1754).] Properly, the equa- 
tion 
tion 
sol 
finite terms. 
Riccia (rik'si-a), ii. [NL. (Mioheli, 1729), named 
after P. Francisco Btoci, an Italian botanist.] 
A genus of cryptogamous plants of the class 
Hepatic*, typical of the order liicciaccte. 
They are delicate little terrestrial or pseudo-aquatic, 
chiefly annual, plants with thallose vegetation. The thai' 
lus is at first radiately divided from the center, which often 
soon decays: the divisions are bifid or ditrichotomous ; 
the fruit is immersed in the thallus, sessile; and the spores 
are alveolate or muriculate, flattish, and angular. There 
L (End 
rice 2 , . Another spelling of rat 2 . Cotgrace. 
rice-bird (ris'berd), 11. 1 . Another name of the 
reed-bird: applied to the bobolink in the fall, 
when it is in yellowish plumage and feeds large- 
ly on wild rice (Zizania aquatica), or, in the 
southern United States, upon cultivated rice, to 
which it does much damage. The name is little 
used north of the States where rice Is cultivated. Also 
called rice-bttntinff and rice-troopial. See reed-bird, and cut 
under bobolink. 
2. The paddy-bird, Pandu oryzicora, well known 
in confinement as the Java sparrow, and com- 
mon in China, etc. 
rice-bunting (ris'bun'ting), . Same as nVr- 
bird, 1. 
rice-corn (ris'kdrn), . Same as pampas-rice. 
rice-drill (ris'dril), ii. In agri., a force-feed 
machine, for planting rice in drills: same as 
rice-planter. See drill 1 , 3. E. H. Knight. 
rice-dust (ris'dust), w. The refuse of rice which 
remains when it is cleaned for the market, con- 
sisting of the husk, broken grains, and dust. 
It is a valuable food for cattle. Also rice- 
meal. 
(ris'em-broi'der-i), 11. Em- 
Leitges they are regarded as forming a connecting-link 
between the Jungermanniacea and the M archantiacex ; 
but they are in some respects of simpler structure than 
either of these orders. The thallus is usually flat, branch- 
ing dichptomously, and floating on water or rooting in soil. 
The fruit is short-pedicelled or sessile on the thallus or 
immersed in it; the capsule is free or connate with the 
calyptra, globose, rupturing irregularly; the spores are 
usually angular; and elaters are wanting. 
rice 1 (ris), ii. [Early mod. E. also ryce, rize; < 
late ME. ri^ce = D. rijxt = MLG. ris = MHG. 
ris, G. rets = Sw. Dan. ris, < OF. ris, F. riz = 
Pr. ris = It. rim (ML. risus, risum), < ML. onj- 
Kitm, L. oryza, rice, = Ar. iiruzz, anizz, nizz (> 
Sp. Pg. arroz), < Gr. 6/wfa, o/wfov, rice (plant 
and grain) ; from an OPers. form preserved in 
the Pushtu (Afghan) icrijzey, wrijey, pi., rice, 
wrijza'h, a grain of rice ; cf. Skt. rrilii, rice.] 
1 . The grain of the rice-plant. 
It forms a larger part of human food 
than the product of any other one 
plant, being often an almost exclusive 
diet in India, China, and the Malayan 
islands, and abundantly used else- 
where. Over 75 per cent, of its sub- 
stance consists of starchy matter, 
but it is deficient in albuminoids, 
the flesh-forming material, and is 
rice-field (rls'feld), ii. A field on which rice is 
grown Rice-field mouse, an American sigmodont 
murine rodent, the rice-rat, Hesperomys(0ryzomyg)palus- 
tris, abounding in the rice-flelds of the southern United 
States. It is the largest North American species of its 
genus, and has the general appearance of a half-grown 
house-rat. It is 4 Inches long, the scaly tail as much more. 
boiling ; in warm countries it is much 
employed in curries. Rice-flour, rice- 
glue, rice-starch, rice-sugar, and rice- 
one kind of true arrack is distilled 
from it. 
2. The rii 
(see Oryza), native in India, also in 
northern Australia ; extensively culti- 
vated in India, China, Malaysia, Brazil, 
Rice-field Mouse (Ory*omys palttstris\. 
The pelage is hispid and glossy. The color is that of the 
common rat. In habits this animal is the most aquatic of 
its kind, resembling the European water-rat (Arvicola am- 
phtbhu)\n this respect. It is a nuisance in the rice-plan- 
tations. 
rice-flour (ris'flour), . Ground rice, used for 
making puddings, gruel for infants, etc., and as 
a face-powder. 
rice-flower (ris'flou'er), . See Pimelea. 
rice-glue (ris'glS), . A cement made by boil- 
ing rice-flour in soft water. It dries nearly trans- 
parent, and is used in making many paper articles ; when 
made sufficiently stiff it can be molded into models, busts, 
etc. 
rice-grain (ris'gran), n. 1. A grain of rice. 
2. A mottled appearance upon the sun, resem- 
bling grains or granules. 
rice-ten (ris'hen), . The common American 
merous natural and cultivated varie- 
ties, and ranges in height from 1 to 
6 feet. It requires for ripening a 
temperature of from sixty to eighty 
i, aspiketet; *,the degrees, and in general can be grown 
empty glumes : c, the only on irricable land (but see iiiiniti- 
thepaiHt ; r "th'cfiocli' tain-rice). Rice is one of the most pn > 
culch the staiuens and line of all crops. It was introduced 
the pistil. into South Carolina about 1700 it is 
rice-huller(ris'hul"er), ii. Sameasi'icc-;>o//(j'. 
rice-meal (ris'mel), . Same as rice-riant. 
rice-milk (ris'milk), ii. Milk boiled and thick- 
ened with rice. 
There are fifty street-sellers of rice-milk in London. Sat- 
urday night is the best time of sale, when it is not uncom- 
mon for a rice-milk woman to sell six quarts. 
Mayhem, London Labour and London Poor, I. 203. 
