\Rib"ald*ry\, n. [OE. ribaldrie, ribaudrie, OF.
ribalderie, ribauderie.]
The talk of a ribald; low, vulgar language; indecency;
obscenity; lewdness; -- now chiefly applied to indecent
language, but formerly, as by Chaucer, also to indecent acts
or conduct.
      The ribaldry of his conversation moved ?stonishment
      even in that age.                        --Macaulay.