rig
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Gear for a particular enterprise.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rigIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɪɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Gear (including necessary machinery) for a particular enterprise
Special equipment or gear used for a particular purpose.
Gear used in fishing
nautical
The rigging of a sailing ship or other such craft.
US
A truck consisting of a tractor and trailer together
us
A large truck, especially a semi-trailer truck.
verb
transitive
To fit out with a harness or other equipment.
Equip with sails or masts
transitive
To make or construct something in haste or in a makeshift manner.
transitive
To manipulate something dishonestly for personal gain or discriminatory purposes.
transitiveinformal
To dress or clothe in some costume.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The rigging of a sailing ship or other such craft.
Used this way, rig is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Sailing/maritime
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.