Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To provide with a harness or equipment; fit out.
  • transitive verb To equip (a ship) with sails, shrouds, and yards.
  • transitive verb To fit (sails or shrouds, for example) to masts and yards.
  • transitive verb Informal To dress, clothe, or adorn.
  • transitive verb To make or construct in haste or in a makeshift manner.
  • transitive verb To manipulate dishonestly for personal gain.
  • noun Nautical The arrangement of masts, spars, and sails on a sailing vessel.
  • noun Special equipment or gear used for a particular purpose.
  • noun A truck or tractor.
  • noun A tractor-trailer.
  • noun A vehicle with one or more horses harnessed to it.
  • noun The special apparatus used for drilling oil wells and extracting the oil.
  • noun Informal A costume or an outfit.
  • noun Fishing tackle.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Nautical, the characteristic manner of fitting the masts and rigging to the hull of any vessel: thus, schooner-rig, ship-rig, etc., have reference to the masts and sails of those vessels, without regard to the hull.
  • noun Costume; dress, especially of a gay or fanciful description.
  • noun An equipage or turnout; a vehicle with a horse or horses, as for driving.
  • noun Fishing-tackle collectively; an angler's cast. [Colloq.]
  • noun A romp; a wanton; a strumpet.
  • noun A frolic: a trick.
  • noun An obsolete or dialectal form of ridge.
  • noun Same as ridgel.
  • noun The apparatus in a cultivator which carries the shovels; a cultivator gang.
  • To fit (a ship) with the necessary tackle; fit, as the shrouds, stays, braces, etc., to their respective masts and yards.
  • To dress; fit out or decorate with clothes or personal adornments: often with out or up.
  • To fit out; furnish; equip; put in condition for use: often followed by out or up.
  • To make or use a rig, as in angling: as, to rig light (that is, to use a light fishing-tackle).
  • To romp; play the wanton.
  • To make free with.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Naut.) The peculiar fitting in shape, number, and arrangement of sails and masts, by which different types of vessels are distinguished; See Illustration in Appendix.
  • noun colloq. Dress; esp., odd or fanciful clothing.
  • transitive verb Obs. or Prov. To make free with; hence, to steal; to pilfer.
  • transitive verb (Stock Exchange), [Cant] to raise or lower market prices, as by some fraud or trick.
  • intransitive verb To play the wanton; to act in an unbecoming manner; to play tricks.
  • noun Prov. or Scott. A ridge.
  • transitive verb To furnish with apparatus or gear; to fit with tackling.
  • transitive verb To dress; to equip; to clothe, especially in an odd or fanciful manner; -- commonly followed by out.
  • transitive verb to adapt apparatus so as to get a purchase for moving a weight, as with a lever, tackle, capstan, etc.
  • transitive verb (Naut.) to fit the shrouds, stays, braces, etc., to their respective masts and yards.
  • noun obsolete A romp; a wanton; one given to unbecoming conduct.
  • noun A sportive or unbecoming trick; a frolic.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A blast of wind.
  • noun to play a trick; to engage in a frolic; to do something strange and unbecoming.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang, nautical The rigging of a sailing ship or other such craft.
  • noun Special equipment or gear used for a particular purpose.
  • noun US A large truck such as a semi-tractor.
  • noun The special apparatus used for drilling wells.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English riggen, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian rigga, to bind.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably of Scandinavian origin. Compare Norwegian rigge ("to equip").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rig.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • a kind of truuck - most likely a semi or one with a dawg in the back

    February 7, 2007