I .
/ rɪŋ; NAmE / noun , verb
—see also ring (II)
■ noun
JEWELLERY
1.
[ C ] a piece of jewellery that you wear on your finger, consisting of a round band of gold, silver, etc., sometimes decorated with precious stones :
a gold ring
A diamond glittered on her ring finger (= the finger next to the little finger, especially on the left hand) .
—see also engagement ring , signet ring , wedding ring
CIRCLE
2.
[ C ] an object in the shape of a circle with a large hole in the middle :
a key ring
curtain rings
onion rings
3.
[ C ] a round mark or shape :
She had dark rings around her eyes from lack of sleep.
The children sat on the floor in a ring.
FOR PERFORMANCE / COMPETITION
4.
[ C ] a confined area in which animals or people perform or compete, with seats around the outside for the audience :
a boxing ring
a circus ring
—see also bullring
FOR COOKING
5.
[ C ] ( especially BrE ) a small flat place on a cooker / stove that is heated by gas or electricity and is used for cooking on
SYN burner :
to turn off the gas ring
—picture at cooker
GROUP OF PEOPLE
6.
[ C ] a group of people who are working together, especially in secret or illegally :
a spy ring
a drugs ring
•
IDIOMS
- run rings around / round sb
—more at hat
■ verb
( ringed , ringed ) [ vn ]
SURROUND
1.
[ often passive ] ring sb/sth (with sth) to surround sb/sth :
Thousands of demonstrators ringed the building.
BIRD'S LEG
2.
to put a metal ring around a bird's leg so that it can be easily identified in the future
DRAW CIRCLE
3.
( especially BrE ) to draw a circle around sth
SYN circle :
Ring the correct answer in pencil.
II .
/ rɪŋ; NAmE / verb , noun
—see also ring (I)
■ verb
( rang / ræŋ; NAmE / rung / rʌŋ; NAmE /)
TELEPHONE
1.
( BrE ) (also call NAmE , BrE ) ring sb/sth (up) to telephone sb/sth :
[ vn ]
I'll ring you up later.
He rang up the police station.
When is the best time to ring New York?
[ v ]
David rang up while you were out.
He said he was ringing from London.
I'm ringing about your advertisement in the paper.
Could you ring for a cab?
She rang to say she'd be late.
➡ note at phone
2.
[ v ] ( of a telephone ) to make a sound because sb is trying to telephone you :
Will you answer the telephone if it rings?
BELL
3.
if you ring a bell or if a bell rings , it produces a sound :
[ vn ]
Someone was ringing the doorbell.
[ v ]
The church bells rang.
Just ring for the nurse (= attract the nurse's attention by ringing a bell) if you need her.
WITH SOUND
4.
[ v ] ring (with sth) ( literary ) to be full of a sound; to fill a place with sound
SYN resound :
The house rang with children's laughter.
Applause rang through the hall.
WITH QUALITY
5.
[ v ] to be full of a particular quality :
His words rang with pride.
OF EARS
6.
[ v ] to be uncomfortable and be unable to hear clearly, usually because you have heard a loud noise, etc. :
The music was so loud it made my ears ring.
•
IDIOMS
- ring a bell
- ring the changes (with sth)
- ring in your ears / head
- ring off the hook
- ring true / hollow / false
—more at alarm noun
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- ring around
- ring back | ring sb back
- ring in
- ring in sth
- ring off
- ring out
- ring round (sb/sth) | ring around (sb/sth)
- ring through (to sb)
- ring sth up
■ noun
OF BELL
1.
[ C ] the sound that a bell makes; the act of ringing a bell :
There was a ring at the door.
He gave a couple of loud rings on the doorbell.
SOUND
2.
[ sing. ] a loud clear sound :
the ring of horse's hooves on the cobblestones
QUALITY
3.
[ sing. ] ring (of sth) a particular quality that words, sounds, etc. have :
His explanation has a ring of truth about it.
Her protestation of innocence had a hollow ring to it (= did not sound sincere) .
The story had a familiar ring to it (= as if I had heard it before) .
•
IDIOMS
- give sb a ring
••
WORD ORIGIN
I . Old English hring , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch ring , German Ring , also to the noun rank .
II . Old English hringan , of Germanic origin, perhaps imitative.