Meanings
- idiomaticOne is very hungry.
Even when ribs was touchin', never swallowed the ham
2004, “Vomitspit”, in Mm..Food, performed by MF Doom2 more examples
The defendant and Bell-Rogers said that they were “hungry” and that their “ribs were touching,” which meant that “they were looking for money ... or a place to rob.”
2010, State of New Hampshire v. Michael Addison (N.H. 2010), page 2She knew it was impossible for them to focus and learn if their stomachs were growling and ribs were touching.
2017, Liza Jessie Peterson, All day: a year of love and survival teaching incarcerated kids at Rikers Island, New York: Center Street, →ISBN, page 5
Origin
Refers to the phenomenon of ribs appearing to touch one another in cases of extreme hunger.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
one's ribs are touching. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one's%20ribs%20are%20touching
“one's ribs are touching.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one's%20ribs%20are%20touching. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “one's ribs are touching,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one's%20ribs%20are%20touching.
Source: one's ribs are touching on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.