noun the ring-necked duck.
2. ringneck ·noun any one of several species of small plovers of the genus aegialitis, having a ring around the neck. the ring is black in summer, but becomes brown or gray in winter. the semipalmated plover (ae. semipalmata) and the piping plover (ae. meloda) are common north american species. called also ring plover, and ring-necked plover.