ribspare
/ˈɹɪbspɛɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Example Sentences
- "Some twenty years ago—'tis true, / Isaacs, a poor pedestrian Jew, / By wishful inclination prest, / A ribspare stole, already drest; […]"
- "25th Decʳ. [1673–1674] I sent to Mr. Hely a ribspare and hoggs puddings, for which hee returned mee a boxe of pills and sermons."
- "The care of our forefathers for the temporal needs of the ministry, is also illustrated by various votes to be gathered from the Town and Parish Records. […] Sent in since Nov. 3: the day I was married: From my good neighbours in town. […] [January] 8, [1698]. The wife of Saml. Sparhawk, a Ribspare […]"
- "Master Roberts has sent no deare yet. There is sent up a motten (mutton), a barrel of eggs, fower ribspares, two chaynes (chines), a goose, three drest poultrie, four live poultrie, four hogges cheekes and feet and hames (hams) of two hogges mustered, one bottel of meade, three brace of partridges, and a brace of veasants (pheasants) […]"
- "So, in Kent, to wrong-take a person is to take him wrong, to misunderstand him, and a ribspare is a spare rib."
Etymology
From Low German ribbesper, from Middle Low German ribbespêr (“spareribs”), from ribbe (“rib”) + sper (“spear; spit”), from Old Saxon ribbi + sper, from Proto-Germanic *ribją + *speru. The second element of the English word was probably influenced by English spare (“lean, wanting flesh”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ribbi, *ribją
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹɪbspɛɚ/
- British English: /ˈɹɪbspɛə(ɹ)/