ˌRing a ˌring o' ˈroses BrE AmE noun
a children’s singing game in which the children join hands and dance round in a circle singing: Ring a ring o'roses/A pocket full of posies/A-tishoo! A-tishoo!/We all fall down . It is believed to come from the time when there was a ↑ plague in London (=a very serious infectious disease, quickly causing death to large numbers of people), because when people coughed and sneezed (↑ sneeze ), saying ‘atishoo’, it was a sign that they had caught the plague.