ring

The resonant sound of a bell, or a sound resembling it.

Noun physical

  1. A solid object in the shape of a circle.

    Synonyms: annulus hoop torus

    1. A circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring, finger ring etc.

    2. (jewelry) A round piece of (precious) metal worn around the finger or through the ear, nose, etc.

      • His brother gifted him a ring for the engagement.
      • The dearest ring in Venice will I give you. - c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...

    3. (UK) A bird band, a round piece of metal put around a bird's leg used for identification and studies of migration.

    4. (UK) A burner on a kitchen stove, hob, or cooktop.

    5. A piece of food in the shape of a ring.

      • onion rings
      • calamari rings

    6. In a jack plug, the connector between the tip and the sleeve.

    7. (vulgar) The rectum, anus, or anal sphincters.

      • Lick my ring!

    8. (historical) 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.

    9. (botany) A flexible band partly or wholly encircling the spore cases of ferns.

  2. A group of objects arranged in a circle.
    • a ring of mushrooms growing in the wood
    • And hears the Muſes in a ring, / Ay round about Joves Altar ſing. - a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page...
    • The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the...

    1. A circular group of people or objects.

    2. (astronomy) A formation of various pieces of material orbiting around a planet or young star.

    3. (UK) A large circular prehistoric stone construction such as Stonehenge.

  3. A long stripe of contrastive material, colour, etc, that encircles something.
    • a ring of grime around the bathtub
  4. Ellipsis of webring.
    • Individuals looking to add their own homepage to a particular ring are, however, more or less at the mercy of the ringmaster, who often maintains a ring homepage listing its acceptance (or membership) policies and an...
  5. A place where some sports or exhibitions take place; notably a circular or comparable arena, such as a boxing ring or a circus ring; hence the field of a political contest.
    • Place me, O, place me in the dusty ring, / Where youthful charioteers contend for glory. - 1707, Edmund Smith, Phaedra and Hippolitus:
    • “If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!” Sun Tzu said that, and I'd say he knows a little more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it, and then he perfected it so that no living...

    1. The open space in front of a racecourse stand, used for betting purposes.

  6. An exclusive group of people, usually involving some unethical or illegal practices.
    • a crime ring; a prostitution ring; a bidding ring (at an auction sale)
    • the ruling ring at Constantinople - 1877, Edward Augustus Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England:
    • It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot. - 1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston:
  7. A group of atoms linked by bonds to form a closed chain in a molecule.
    • a benzene ring
  8. A planar geometrical figure included between two concentric circles.
  9. A diacritical mark in the shape of a hollow circle placed above or under the letter; a kroužek.
  10. An old English measure of corn equal to the coomb or half a quarter.
    • The ring is common in the Huntingdonshire accounts of Ramsey Abbey. It was equal to half a quarter, i.e., is identical with the coomb of the eastern counties - 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture...
  11. A hierarchical level of privilege in a computer system, usually at hardware level, used to protect data and functionality (also protection ring).
    • Kernel Mode processes run in ring 0, and User Mode processes run in ring 3. - 2007, Steve Anson, Steve Bunting, Mastering Windows Network Forensics and Investigation, page 70:
  12. Either of the pair of clamps used to hold a telescopic sight to a rifle.

Origin

From Middle English ryng, from Old English hring (“ring, circle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-, extended nasalized form of *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Doublet of rank and rink, as well as indirectly range. Cognates * West Frisian ring * Low German Ring * Dutch ring * German Ring * Swedish ring * Finnish rengas More distantly cognate with Proto-Slavic *krǫgъ (whence Bulgarian кръг (krǎg), Polish krąg, Russian круг (krug)).

Forms

rings

Related

red ring

Derived

abdominal inguinal ring abdominal ring abstinence ring algebra over a ring alternate ring hitching anchor ring annual ring A ring armring Artin ring bathtub ring belly button ring belly ring benzene ring betting ring big ring blogring Borromean rings boxing ring brass ring bubble ring bull ring cake ring calamari ring

Noun Entry 2

  1. The resonant sound of a bell, or a sound resembling it.
    • The church bell's ring could be heard the length of the valley.
    • The ring of hammer on anvil filled the air.
  2. A pleasant or correct sound.
    • The name has a nice ring to it.
  3. A sound or appearance that is characteristic of something.
    • Her statements in court had a ring of falsehood.
  4. A telephone call.
    • I’ll give you a ring when the plane lands.
  5. Any loud sound; the sound of numerous voices; a sound continued, repeated, or reverberated.
    • the ring of acclamations fresh in his ears - 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew...
  6. A chime, or set of bells harmonically tuned.
    • St Mary's has a ring of eight bells.
    • as great and tunable a ring of bells as any in the world - 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):

Origin

From Middle English ryngen, from Old English hrinġan (“to ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *hringijan, from Proto-Germanic *hringijaną (“to ring”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Dutch ringen (“to ring”), Danish ringe (“to ring”), Swedish ringa (“to ring”), Faroese ringja (“to ring up, telephone”), Icelandic hringja (“to ring”), West Frisian ringelje (“to ring”), Dutch rinkelen (“to ring, jingle”), Faroese ringla (“to tinkle, jingle”).

Forms

rings

Derived

give a ring give someone a ring ring-a-ding ringback ring cadence ring-in ringtone ringxiety telephone ring

Noun algebra, mathematics

  1. An algebraic structure which consists of a set with two binary operations: an additive operation and a multiplicative operation, such that the set is an abelian group under the additive operation, a monoid under the multiplicative operation, and such that the multiplicative operation is distributive with respect to the additive operation.
    • The set of integers, #92;mathbb#123;Z#125;, is the prototypical ring.
  2. An algebraic structure as above, but only required to be a semigroup under the multiplicative operation, that is, there need not be a multiplicative identity element.
    • The definition of ring without unity allows, for instance, the set 2#92;mathbb#123;Z#125; of even integers to be a ring.

    Synonyms: rng

Origin

From a shortening of German Zahlring (“ring of numbers”), coined by German mathematician David Hilbert in 1892. Apparently first used in English in 1930, E. T. Bell, “Rings whose elements are ideals,” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society.

Forms

rings

Hypernyms

pseudo-ring rng semiring

Hyponyms

algebra over a field field Euclidean domain principal ideal domain unique factorization domain Noetherian domain integral domain commutative ring

Derived

Boolean ring polynomial ring

Noun mathematical analysis, mathematics

  1. A family of sets that is closed under finite unions and set-theoretic differences.
  2. A family of sets closed under finite union and finite intersection.

Forms

rings

Hyponyms

algebra σ-ring

Verb Entry 5

  1. Of a bell, etc., to produce a resonant sound.
    • The bells were ringing in the town.
  2. To make (a bell, etc.) produce a resonant sound.
    • The deliveryman rang the doorbell to drop off a parcel.
    • The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, / Hath rung night's yawning peal. - c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...
  3. To produce (a sound) by ringing.
    • They rang a Christmas carol on their handbells.
  4. To produce the sound of a bell or a similar sound.
    • Whose mobile phone is ringing?
  5. Of something spoken or written, to appear to be, to seem, to sound.
    • That does not ring true.
  6. To telephone (someone).
    • I will ring you when we arrive.
  7. to resound, reverberate, echo.
    • […] And many an old philosophy ⁠On Argive heights divinely sang, ⁠And round us all the thicket rang To many a flute of Arcady. - 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […],...
    • So he spoke, and it seemed there was a little halting at first, as of men not liking to take Blackbeard's name in Blackbeard's place, or raise the Devil by mocking at him. But then some of the bolder shouted...
    • It is instructive for us to learn as well as to ponder on the fact that "the very men who looked down with delight, when the sand of the arena reddened with human blood, made the arena ring with applause when Terence in...
  8. To produce music with bells.
    • Four Bells admit Twenty-four changes in Ringing - 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: […], London: […] T. N[ewcomb] for J[ohn] Martyn printer to the...
  9. To ring up (enter into a cash register or till)
    • The checkout girl rang it into his total, and he paid the bill. - 1983, T.C. Knudsen, John Hempstead, A Man's Guide to Women:
    • On presentation of the item at the checkout the original price sticker was concealed from the checkout assistant and a sticker of $38.88 exhibited on the item. The checkout operator rang on the lesser sum, a mistake...
    • . The new cashier rang something twice and had to call for the manager to fix the register. - 2011, Tracy E Whipple, A Friend's Last Gift, page 88:
  10. To repeat often, loudly, or earnestly.

Forms

rings ringing rang rung

Derived

make the welkin ring misring outring ring a bell ringable ring around ring back ring down the curtain ringer ring false ring hollow ring in ringing ring off ring off the hook ring one's bell ring out ring round ring someone's bell ring the changes ring the devil's doorbell ring the welkins ring through ring true

Verb Entry 6

  1. To enclose or surround.
    • The inner city was ringed with dingy industrial areas.
    • Today, when stepping off the train, you're presented with a bright and airy concourse that's ringed with a variety of facilities. - 2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Eastbourne”, in...
  2. To make an incision around; to girdle; to cut away a circular tract of bark from a tree in order to kill it.
    • They ringed the trees to make the clearing easier next year.
    • The ironbark trees are "rung" at a certain height top and bottom, and the bark detached in one sheet; it is then wetted, and laid out flat on the ground, huge stones being placed to keep it from rolling up again. -...
  3. To attach a ring to, especially for identification.
    • We managed to ring 22 birds this morning.
    • Ringing a pig of ordinary size is easy, but special arrangements must be made for handling the big ones. - 1919, Popular Science, volume 95, number 4, page 31:
  4. To surround or fit with a ring, or as if with a ring.
    • to ring a pig’s snout
    • Ring these fingers with thy household worms. - c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
  5. To rise in the air spirally.
    • […] how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing / In his ecstacy! - 1877 May 30, Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The Windhover: To Christ Our Lord”, in Robert Bridges, editor, Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Now First...
  6. To steal and change the identity of (cars) in order to resell them.
    • A. Woodley, Trio: 3 short stories Gabe said that as Derry had only caught part of the conversation, it's possible that they were discussing a film, it was bad enough that they'd unwittingly been brought into ringing...
    • They used two bases in Digbeth to break down luxury motors, some of which were carjacked or stolen after keys were taken in house raids. The parts were then fitted to salvaged cars bought online. […] Jailing the...
  7. To ride around (a group of animals, especially cattle) to keep them milling in one place; hence (intransitive), to work as a drover, to muster cattle.
    • ‘I was ringing for your dad out there at Haddon Hill the year you was born. It was a good year for calves.’ - 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 289:

Forms

rings ringing ringed

Derived

ringer ring-fence ringfence ring in