Definition

A longitudinal timber brace running along a ship's ribs like a terrifyingly specific orthopedic corset; the structural reinforcement preventing a vessel from deciding mid-voyage to reorganize itself into something more geometrically creative.

Example Usage

The shipwright installed ribbons along the frame to prevent the hull from buckling under the crushing pressure of actually containing water.

Source: Maritime and shipbuilding terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

THREATCON

Threat Condition — a system for communicating the level of terrorist threat at military installations. It is DEFCON's anxious cousin, specifically worried about security rather than nuclear annihilation. Each level comes with increasingly inconvenient gate procedures.

🎖️ Military / Defense
Intermediate

BDA

Battle Damage Assessment—the evaluation of damage caused to enemy targets during strikes. It's the post-attack scorekeeping system, often optimistic about what was actually destroyed.

🎖️ Military / Defense
Beginner

stacked

Multiple unfavorable assignments, duties, or circumstances hitting simultaneously. When the duty roster, inspection schedule, and training calendar all conspire against your weekend plans.

🎖️ Military / Defense
Intermediate

knuckle dragger

Affectionate (or not-so-affectionate) term for ground combat troops, particularly infantry or armor soldiers, as viewed by more technical military occupational specialties. Implies they're less evolved, ape-like.

🎖️ Military / Defense
Beginner

zonk

An unexpected release from scheduled physical training or duty, usually announced at formation to the delight of assembled troops. The rarest and most cherished gift from leadership.

🎖️ Military / Defense
Intermediate

sustainment

Military jargon for keeping troops fed, armed, and operational in the field—basically the logistics of not letting your army fall apart. It encompasses everything from ammunition resupply to field hospitals to making sure soldiers have boots. The unglamorous but absolutely critical business of keeping the war machine running.

🎖️ Military / Defense

Translate This Term

See “ribbon” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on XShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Advanced

Adjudicate

The fancy legal way of saying "to make a decision," except it takes seventeen months, four hundred pages of briefs, and ...