rim

[rim]

noun

1. the outer edge, border, margin, or brink of something, especially of a circular object.

   Synonyms: verge, lip
   Antonyms: center

2. any edge, margin, or frame added to or around a central object or area.

3. the outer circle of a wheel, attached to the hub by spokes.

4. a circular strip of metal forming the connection between an automobile wheel and tire, either permanently attached to or removable from the wheel.

5. a drive wheel or flywheel, as on a spinning mule.

6. Basketball.,  the metal ring from which the net is suspended to form the basket.

7. Journalism.,  the outer edge of a usually U -shaped copy desk, occupied by the copyreaders.

8. Metallurgy.,  (in an ingot) an outer layer of metal having a composition different from that of the center.

verb (used with object)

rimmed, rimming 

1. to furnish with a rim, border, or margin.

2. (of a golf ball or putt) to roll around the edge of (a hole) but not go in.

3. Basketball.,  (of a basketball) to roll around (the rim of the basket) and not go in.

4. to coat or encrust the rim of (a glass).

   Rim each cocktail glass with salt.

rim

¹

/ rɪm /

noun

1. the raised edge of an object, esp of something more or less circular such as a cup or crater

2. the peripheral part of a wheel, to which the tyre is attached

3. basketball the hoop from which the net is suspended

verb

1. to put a rim on (a pot, cup, wheel, etc)

2. slang,  to lick, kiss, or suck the anus of (one's sexual partner)

3. ball games (of a ball) to run around the edge of (a hole, basket, etc)

RIM

²

abbreviation

1. Mauritania (international car registration)

Other Word Forms

• rimless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rim¹

First recorded before 1150; Middle English; Old English -rima (in compounds); cognate with Old Norse rimi “raised strip of land, ridge”

Word History and Origins

Origin of rim¹

Old English rima ; related to Old Saxon rimi , Old Norse rimi ridge

Origin of rim²

From République Islamique de Mauritanie

Synonym Study

Rim, brim refer to the boundary of a circular or curved area. A rim is a line or surface bounding such an area; an edge or border: the rim of a glass. Brim usually means the inside of the rim, at the top of a hollow object (except of a hat), and is used particularly when the object contains something: The cup was filled to the brim.

Example Sentences

For a nostalgic adult beverage, try the “Secret” cocktail with a Fruity Pebble rim, or the strawberry swing if mocktails are more your speed.

From Salon

If you’re feeling spicy, try leveling some lemon peels with jalapeños and sugar along with adding a jalapeño garnish and a Tajin rim around the glass.

From Salon

The park service confidently posted on social media that it was “no threat to public safety or the developed area” of the North Rim and that the “fire continues to be managed under a confine and contain strategy, which allows for the natural role of fire on the landscape.”

From Los Angeles Times

In the days that followed, tourists on the South Rim of the canyon, and social media viewers around the globe, watched in awe as the fire grew so big and hot it created its own weather, sending pyrocumulus clouds billowing hundreds of feet into the air and dense smoke streaming down into the idyllic canyon below.

From Los Angeles Times

The welcome center at the entrance of the Grand Canyon’s north rim was still wrapped to protect it from fire on August 12, 2025.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fringe 
• ledge 
• lip 
• perimeter 
• periphery