Ring /(rĭng)/

Ring

v. t.

imp. Rang; p. p. Rung; p. pr. & vb. n. Ringing

  1. To cause to sound, especially by striking, as a metallic body; as, to ring a bell.
  2. To make (a sound), as by ringing a bell; to sound.
    The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, Hath rung night's yawning peal.
  3. To repeat often, loudly, or earnestly.

Phrases & Compounds
To ring a peal
to ring a set of changes on a chime of bells.
To ring the changes upon
See under Change.
To ring in
to usher, attend on, or celebrate, by the ringing of bells; as, to ring out the old year and ring in the new.
To ring the bells backward
to sound the chimes, reversing the common order; -- formerly done as a signal of alarm or danger.

Ring

v. i.
  1. To sound, as a bell or other sonorous body, particularly a metallic one.
    Now ringen trompes loud and clarion.
    Why ring not out the bells?
  2. To practice making music with bells.
  3. To sound loud; to resound; to be filled with a ringing or reverberating sound.
    With sweeter notes each rising temple rung.
    The hall with harp and carol rang.
    My ears still ring with noise.
  4. To continue to sound or vibrate; to resound.
    The assertion is still ringing in our ears.
  5. To be filled with report or talk; as, the whole town rings with his fame.

Ring

n.
  1. A sound; especially, the sound of vibrating metals; as, the ring of a bell.
  2. Any loud sound; the sound of numerous voices; a sound continued, repeated, or reverberated.
    The ring of acclamations fresh in his ears.
  3. A chime, or set of bells harmonically tuned.
    As great and tunable a ring of bells as any in the world.

Ring

n.
  1. A circle, or a circular line, or anything in the form of a circular line or hoop.
  2. Specifically, a circular ornament of gold or other precious material worn on the finger, or attached to the ear, the nose, or some other part of the person; as, a wedding ring.
    Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring.
    The dearest ring in Venice will I give you.
  3. A circular area in which races are or run or other sports are performed; an arena.
    Place me, O, place me in the dusty ring, Where youthful charioteers contend for glory.
    — E. Smith.
  4. An inclosed space in which pugilists fight; hence, figuratively, prize fighting.
  5. A circular group of persons.
    And hears the Muses in a ring Aye round about Jove's alter sing.
  6. The plane figure included between the circumferences of two concentric circles. (Geom.)
  7. An instrument, formerly used for taking the sun's altitude, consisting of a brass ring suspended by a swivel, with a hole at one side through which a solar ray entering indicated the altitude on the graduated inner surface opposite. (Astron. & Navigation)
  8. An elastic band partly or wholly encircling the spore cases of ferns. See Illust. of Sporangium. (Bot.)
  9. A clique; an exclusive combination of persons for a selfish purpose, as to control the market, distribute offices, obtain contracts, etc.
    The ruling ring at Constantinople.
    — E. A. Freeman.
  10. An algebraic structure which consists of a set with two binary operations that generalize the arithmetic operations of addition and multiplication. (Alg.)

Phrases & Compounds
Ring armor
armor composed of rings of metal. See Ring mail, below, and Chain mail, under Chain.
Ring blackbird
the ring ousel.
Ring canal
the circular water tube which surrounds the esophagus of echinoderms.
Ring dotterel
See Dotterel, and Illust. of Pressiroster.
Ring dropper
a sharper who pretends to have found a ring (dropped by himself), and tries to induce another to buy it as valuable, it being worthless.
Ring fence
See under Fence.
Ring finger
the third finger of the left hand, or the next the little finger, on which the ring is placed in marriage.
Ring formula
a graphic formula in the shape of a closed ring, as in the case of benzene, pyridine, etc. See Illust. under Benzene.
Ring mail
a kind of mail made of small steel rings sewed upon a garment of leather or of cloth.
Ring micrometer
See Circular micrometer, under Micrometer.
Saturn's rings
See Saturn.
Ring ousel
See Ousel.
Ring parrot
any one of several species of Old World parrakeets having a red ring around the neck, especially Palaeornis torquatus, common in India, and Palaeornis Alexandri of Java.
Ring plover
The ringed dotterel
Ring snake
a small harmless American snake (Diadophis punctatus) having a white ring around the neck. The back is ash-colored, or sage green, the belly of an orange red.
Ring stopper
See under Stopper.
Ring thrush
the ring ousel.
The prize ring
the ring in which prize fighters contend; prize fighters, collectively.
The ring
The body of sporting men who bet on horse races

Ring

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Ringed; p. pr. & vb. n. Ringing

  1. To surround with a ring, or as with a ring; to encircle.
  2. To make a ring around by cutting away the bark; to girdle; as, to ring branches or roots. (Hort.)
  3. To fit with a ring or with rings, as the fingers, or a swine's snout.

Ring

v. i.
  1. To rise in the air spirally. (Falconry)