Emily Dickinson Lexicon

rib (-s), n. [OE rib.]

Curved bones in man and animal enclosing the body cavity and protecting the chief organs. [fig.] mountainsides.

ribaldry, n. [OFr ribaulderie.]

1. Gaiety; merriment; playfulness; [word play on “ribbon”] display; decoration.
2. Uproar; furor; noise; hubbub; rowdiness; raucous behavior; loud laughter; outrageous language.

ribboin, n. [see ribbon, n.]

ribbon (-s, -'s), n. [Later form of riban, of obscure origin.]

1. Long streak; narrow strand; thin ray.
2. Silk strip; satin band; thin strip of cloth.

ribin, n. [see ribbon, n.]

rich (-er), adj. [Germ. ríce, prob. < Celtic rīx = L. rex, king.] (webplay: beautiful, common, God, gold, hand, highly, men, pearl, sounds, suppose, sweet, wealthy, well).

1. Wealthy.
2. Emotionally or spiritually fulfilled.

Richard, proper n. [Germanic ric, rule + hard, brave.]

Miller; laborer; farm hand; male acquaintance; possibly Richard Matthews, an Englishman who worked at the Homestead in Amherst.

riches, n. [variation of richesse, assuming the form of a plural, see rich, adj.] (webplay: dominion, eastern, glory, gold, good, hand, less, men, number, opulent, pearl, plenty, possessing, power, powerful, sounds, sweet, treasure, wealthy).

1. Wealth.
2. Fulfillment; spiritual blessings.

rid, v. [ON ryδja.]

Disposed of.

riddle, n¹. [OE rædels, counsel, opinion, conjecture; see read, v.]

1. Question; wondering; final words (of Philip van Artevelde in Sir Henry Taylor's play): “What have I done? Why such a death? Why thus?”
2. Mystery; unknown; hidden dimensions of spiritual reality; [fig.] afterlife; spirit world; life after death.
3. Enigma; paradox; conundrum; test of veracity; trial of faith; [word play] sieve; screen; mesh; filter; instrument for straining out impurities.
4. Verse; rhyming text that poses a question; type of poem in the genre of lyric poetry.
5. Puzzle; ambiguous statement; something to be solved by conjecture.