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We investigate bounds in Ramsey’s theorem for relations definable in NIP structures. Applying model-theoretic methods to finitary combinatorics, we generalize a theorem of Bukh and Matousek (Duke Mathematical Journal163(12) (2014), 2243–2270) from the semialgebraic case to arbitrary polynomially bounded 
$o$-minimal expansions of 
$\mathbb{R}$, and show that it does not hold in 
$\mathbb{R}_{\exp }$. This provides a new combinatorial characterization of polynomial boundedness for 
$o$-minimal structures. We also prove an analog for relations definable in 
$P$-minimal structures, in particular for the field of the 
$p$-adics. Generalizing Conlon et al. (Transactions of the American Mathematical Society366(9) (2014), 5043–5065), we show that in distal structures the upper bound for 
$k$-ary definable relations is given by the exponential tower of height 
$k-1$.
