Etymology 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)).
Physical A circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring, finger ring etc.
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Jewelry, LifestylePhysical 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 Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
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UK, Physical A bird band, a round piece of metal put around a bird's leg used for identification and studies of migration.
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UK, Physical A burner on a kitchen stove, hob, or cooktop.
Historical, Physical 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.
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Biology, Botany, Natural sciencesPhysical A flexible band partly or wholly encircling the spore cases of ferns.
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 39:
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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 original common.1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
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Astronomy, Natural sciencesPhysical A formation of various pieces of material orbiting around a planet or young star.
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UK, Physical A large circular prehistoric stone construction such as Stonehenge.
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A long stripe of contrastive material, colour, etc, that encircles something.
a ring of grime around the bathtub
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Internet, Abbreviation, Ellipsis 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 index of its member sites.2002, Feroz Khan, Information Society in Global Age, page 100:
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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 man could best him in the ring of honor.2009 January 19, 0:14 from the start, in Meet the Soldier, spoken by Soldier (Rick May), Bellevue, Washington: Valve Corporation, via YouTube, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2025:
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The open space in front of a racecourse stand, used for betting purposes.
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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 Constantinople1877, Edward Augustus Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England:
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It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot.1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston:
In a thread called “Calm Before the Storm”, and in subsequent posts, Q established his legend as a government insider with top security clearance who knew the truth about a secret struggle for power involving Donald Trump, the “deep state”, Robert Mueller, the Clintons, pedophile rings, and other stuff.2018 July 31, Julia Carrie Wong, “What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory”, in The Guardian:
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Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A group of atoms linked by bonds to form a closed chain in a molecule.
a benzene ring
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Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences A planar geometrical figure included between two concentric circles.
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Media, Publishing, Typography A diacritical mark in the shape of a hollow circle placed above or under the letter; a kroužek.
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Historical 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 counties1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 168:
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Computing, Computing theory, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences 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:
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Networking, Physical sciences, Sciences A network topology where connected devices form a circular data channel. All computers on the ring can see every message, and there are no collisions, and a single point of failure will occur if any part of the ring breaks.
Etymology 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)).
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 RAIL, number 948, page 27:
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Figuratively 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.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 50:
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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:
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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: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
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Falconry, Hobbies, Hunting, Lifestyle 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 Published […], London: Humphrey Milford, published 1918, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 29:
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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 cars, adding drugs into it was far more than either of them could ever be comfortable with.
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 quartet, a judge at Birmingham Crown Court said it was a "car ringing on a commercial and substantial scale".2019 (10 December), Ross McCarthy, Digbeth chop shop gang jailed over £2m stolen car racket (in Birmingham Live) https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/digbeth-chop-shop-gang-jailed-17393456
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Australia 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:
Any loud sound; the sound of numerous voices; a sound continued, repeated, or reverberated.
the ring of acclamations fresh in his ears1622, 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 Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:
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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 world1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
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 […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
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To produce (a sound) by ringing.
They rang a Christmas carol on their handbells.
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Figuratively To produce the sound of a bell or a similar sound.
Whose mobile phone is ringing?
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Figuratively Of something spoken or written, to appear to be, to seem, to sound.
[…] 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, […], →OCLC, page 40:
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 'Blackbeard', and so the more timid chimed in, and in a minute there were a score of voices calling 'Blackbeard, Blackbeard', till the place rang again.[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
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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 his famous line: ‘Homo sum, Nihil humani alienum puto’ proclaimed the brotherhood of man."1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
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To produce music with bells.
Four Bells admit Twenty-four changes in Ringing1669, 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 R[oyal] Society, […], →OCLC:
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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 known to Dronjak. He was subsequently charged with theft.1990, The New Zealand Law Reports - Volume 3, page 75:
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. 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:
Etymology 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.
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Algebra, Mathematics, Sciences 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.
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Algebra, Mathematics, Sciences 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.