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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

rig.

The rigging of a sailing ship or other such craft.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɹɪɡ/
  1. The rigging of a sailing ship or other such craft.

  2. Special equipment or gear used for a particular purpose.

    The climbers each had a different rig for climbing that particular rockface.
    We used a ground-level rig to safely learn how to tile a gable roof.
  3. A large truck, especially a semi-trailer truck.

    US
    Every rig at the truckstop had custom-made mud-flaps.
  4. The special apparatus used for drilling wells.

  5. A costume or an outfit.

    informal
    My sister and I always made our own rigs for Halloween.
  6. A personal computer, typically one modified for looks.

    slang
  7. An imperfectly castrated horse, sheep etc.

  8. Radio equipment, especially a citizen's band transceiver.

    slang
  9. Equipment used for taking recreational drugs.

    slang
  10. A model outfitted with parameterized controls for animation.

Where this word comes from

From Early Modern English rygge, probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian rigge (“to bind up; wrap around; rig; equip”), Swedish dialectal rigga (“to rig a horse”), Faroese rigga (“to rig; to equip and fit; to make s.th. function”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *rik- (“to bind”), from Proto-Indo-European *rign-, *reyg- (“to bind”); or related to Old English *wrīhan, wrīohan, wrēohan, wrēon (“to bind; wrap up; cover”). See also wry (“to cover; clothe; dress; hide”).

verb/ɹɪɡ/
  1. To fit out with a harness or other equipment. To equip and fit (a ship) with sails, shrouds, and yards.

    transitive
  2. To fit out with a harness or other equipment. To move (a heavy object) with the help of slings, hoists, block and tackle, levers, or similar equipment.

    transitive
    To rig such massive equipment requires experienced riggers
  3. To dress or clothe in some costume.

    informal · transitive
  4. To make or construct something in haste or in a makeshift manner.

    transitive
    rig up a makeshift shelter
  5. To manipulate something dishonestly for personal gain or discriminatory purposes.

    transitive
    to rig an election
  6. To make free with; hence, to steal; to pilfer.

    obsolete · transitive
  7. To outfit a model with controls for animation.

    intransitive · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Early Modern English rygge, probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian rigge (“to bind up; wrap around; rig; equip”), Swedish dialectal rigga (“to rig a horse”), Faroese rigga (“to rig; to equip and fit; to make s.th. function”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *rik- (“to bind”), from Proto-Indo-European *rign-, *reyg- (“to bind”); or related to Old English *wrīhan, wrīohan, wrēohan, wrēon (“to bind; wrap up; cover”). See also wry (“to cover; clothe; dress; hide”).

noun/ɹɪɡ/
  1. A ridge.

    Northern-England · Scotland · dialectal
Where this word comes from

See ridge.

noun/ɹɪɡ/
  1. A wanton person; one given to unbecoming conduct.

    obsolete
  2. A promiscuous woman.

  3. A sportive or unbecoming trick; a frolic.

    obsolete
  4. A blast of wind.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Compare wriggle.

verb/ɹɪɡ/
  1. To play the wanton; to act in an unbecoming manner; to play tricks.

    intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Compare wriggle.

noun/ɹɪɡ/
  1. An algebraic structure similar to a ring, but without the requirement that every element have an additive inverse.

Where this word comes from

From ring (“algebraic structure”), omitting the letter n to suggest the lack of negatives. Compare rng (“structure like a ring but lacking a multiplicative identity”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.