GC: n

S: Mednet – http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=18061 (last access: 15 June 2015); HL – http://www.healthline.com/symptom/rib-pain (last access: 15 June 2015).

N: 1. From rib (Old English ribb “rib,” from Proto-Germanic rebja- literally “a covering” (of the cavity of the chest), from PIE rebh- “to roof, cover”), and cage (early 13c., from Old French cage “cage, prison; retreat, hideout” (12c.), from Latin cavea “hollow place, enclosure for animals, coop, hive, stall, dungeon, spectators’ seats in the theater” (source also of Italian gabbia “basket for fowls, coop;”).

2. The rib cage, or thoracic basket, consists of the 12 thoracic (chest) vertebrae, the 24 ribs, and the breastbone, or sternum. The ribs are curved, compressed bars of bone, with each succeeding rib, from the first, or uppermost, becoming more open in curvature.

S: 1. Etymonline – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=rib; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Rib+cage (last access: 15 June 2015). 2. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/rib-cage (last access: 15 June 2015).

GV: ribcage

S: http://www.webmd.boots.com/a-to-z-guides/picture-ribs-ribcage (last access: 15 June 2015); COSNAUTAS (last access: 15 June 2015).

SYN: 1. thoracic basket. 2. thoracic cage, thoracic skeleton.

S: 1. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/rib-cage (last access: 15 June 2015). 2. COSNAUTAS (last access: 15 June 2015)

CR: asphyxia