Library / English Dictionary

RIBBON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Notion consisting of a narrow strip of fine material used for trimming

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("ribbon" is a kind of...):

notion ((usually plural) small personal articles or clothing or sewing items)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ribbon"):

riband; ribband (a ribbon used as a decoration)

Derivation:

ribbony (long and thin; resembling a ribbon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A long strip of inked material for making characters on paper with a typewriter

Synonyms:

ribbon; typewriter ribbon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("ribbon" is a kind of...):

slip; strip (artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material)

Holonyms ("ribbon" is a part of...):

typewriter (hand-operated character printer for printing written messages one character at a time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event

Synonyms:

decoration; laurel wreath; medal; medallion; palm; ribbon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("ribbon" is a kind of...):

accolade; award; honor; honour; laurels (a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ribbon"):

Medaille Militaire (a French military decoration)

Croix de Guerre (a French military decoration for gallantry)

Distinguished Service Order (a British military decoration for special service in action)

Distinguished Conduct Medal (a British military decoration for distinguished conduct in the field)

Victoria Cross (a British military decoration for gallantry)

Oak Leaf Cluster (a United States military decoration consisting of bronze or silver oak leaves and acorns awarded to anyone who has won a given medal before)

Order of the Purple Heart; Purple Heart (a United States military decoration awarded to any member of the armed forces who is wounded in action)

Bronze Star; Bronze Star Medal (a United States military decoration awarded for meritorious service (except in aerial flight))

Silver Star; Silver Star Medal (a United States military decoration for gallantry in action)

Air Medal (a United States Air Force decoration for meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight)

Distinguished Flying Cross (a United States Air Force decoration for heroism while participating in an aerial flight)

Navy Cross (a United States Navy decoration for extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy)

Distinguished Service Cross (a United States Army decoration for extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy)

Distinguished Service Medal (a United States military decoration for meritorious service in wartime duty of great responsibility)

Congressional Medal of Honor; Medal of Honor (the highest U.S. military decoration awarded for bravery and valor in action 'above and beyond the call of duty')

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any long object resembling a thin line

Example:

a thread of smoke climbed upward

Synonyms:

ribbon; thread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("ribbon" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ribbon"):

blade (something long and thin resembling a blade of grass)

Derivation:

ribbony (long and thin; resembling a ribbon)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A carcinoid tumor that arises from the ovary and is characterized by the presence of columnar cells with abundant cytoplasm forming ribbons.

(Ovarian Trabecular Carcinoid Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

A microbiological technique for specimen collection and mounting for microscopic examination that utilizes a cellulose-based adhesive ribbon.

(Cellulose Tape Method, NCI Thesaurus)

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I was blue ribbon at that time, and we were putting a little money by, and all was as bright as a new dollar.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I cut ’im in ribbons, that’s wot I did, an’ ’e a-squealin’ all the time.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

My three friends had all lost their hats, and had now bound handkerchiefs round their heads, their clothes hung in ribbons about them, and their unshaven grimy faces were hardly to be recognized.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This year, you will have an open road to choose beautiful gifts you can wrap in clouds of tissue paper and satin ribbon—instead of resorting to safe gift cards.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Dub was badly injured in a hind leg; Dolly, the last husky added to the team at Dyea, had a badly torn throat; Joe had lost an eye; while Billee, the good-natured, with an ear chewed and rent to ribbons, cried and whimpered throughout the night.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

To her the cares were sometimes almost beyond the happiness; for young and inexperienced, with small means of choice and no confidence in her own taste, the how she should be dressed was a point of painful solicitude; and the almost solitary ornament in her possession, a very pretty amber cross which William had brought her from Sicily, was the greatest distress of all, for she had nothing but a bit of ribbon to fasten it to; and though she had worn it in that manner once, would it be allowable at such a time in the midst of all the rich ornaments which she supposed all the other young ladies would appear in?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)