means The curved bones forming the protective cage around your chest, or the cut of meat (often from pork or beef) that comes from those same bones in an animal.

from From Old English "ribb," a word with deep Germanic roots — cousins survive in German "Rippe" and Dutch "rib." These all likely trace back to a Proto-Germanic source meaning "rib" or "vault," and possibly further to a Proto-Indo-European root tied to the idea of covering or roofing — fitting, since ribs form a kind of vaulted ceiling over the lungs. The architectural sense lingers in English too: the curved "ribs" of a ship's hull or a vaulted cathedral ceiling borrow the same name from the bones they resemble.