ring

ring¹ W2S1 [rıŋ] n

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1¦(jewellery)¦

2¦(circle)¦

3 give somebody a ring

4¦(bells)¦

5¦(criminals)¦

6 have the/a ring of something

7 have a familiar ring

8 run rings around somebody

9¦(cooking)¦

10¦(sport)¦

11¦(entertainment)¦

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[Sense: 1-2, 5, 8-11; Origin: Old English hring]

[Sense: 3-4, 6-7; Date: 1500-1600; Origin: RING¹]

1.) ¦(JEWELLERY)¦

a piece of jewellery that you wear on your finger

▪ a diamond ring

▪ a plain silver ring

2.) ¦(CIRCLE)¦

a) an object in the shape of a circle

▪ a rubber ring for children to go swimming with

▪ onion rings

▪ a key ring

→↑napkin ring

b) a circular line or mark

ring around

▪ She left a dirty ring around the bath.

ring round BrE

▪ a ring round the moon

c) a group of people or things arranged in a circle

ring of

▪ A ring of armed troops surrounded the building.

▪ The city was overlooked by a ring of high-rise buildings.

3.) give sb a ring

BrE informal to make a telephone call to someone

▪ I'll give you a ring later in the week.

4.) ¦(BELLS)¦

the sound made by a bell or the act of making this sound

▪ a ring at the doorbell

5.) ¦(CRIMINALS)¦

a group of people who illegally control a business or criminal activity

▪ Are you aware that a drugs ring is being operated in the club?

▪ Secret files reveal an Oxford spy ring .

6.) have the/a ring of sth

if a statement or argument has a ring of truth, confidence etc, it seems as if it has this quality

▪ His explanation has the ring of truth.

7.) have a familiar ring

if something has a familiar ring, you feel that you have heard it before

▪ His voice had a strangely familiar ring.

8.) run rings around sb informal

to be able to do something much better than someone else can

▪ I'm sure you can run rings round him.

9.) ¦(COOKING)¦

BrE one of the circular areas on top of a ↑cooker that is heated by gas or electricity

→↑hob

American Equivalent: burner

▪ a gas ring

10.)¦(SPORT)¦

a) a small square area surrounded by ropes, where people ↑box or ↑wrestle

→↑ringside

b) the ring

the sport of ↑boxing

▪ He retired from the ring at 34.

11.) ¦(ENTERTAINMENT)¦

a large circular area surrounded by seats at a ↑circus

ring ²

ring² W2S1 [rıŋ] v past tense rang [ræŋ] past participle rung [rʌŋ]

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1¦(bell)¦

2¦(telephone)¦

3¦(sounds)¦

4 ring a bell

5 not ring true

6 ring the changes

7 ring hollow

8 ring in your ears

Phrasal verbs

　ring (somebody) back

　ring in

　ring off

　ring out

　ring round (somebody)

　ring up

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1.) ¦(BELL)¦

a) [I and T]

to make a bell make a sound, especially to call someone's attention to you or to call someone to help you

▪ I rang the doorbell but no one came.

ring for

▪ The sign said, 'Ring for service'.

▪ Instead of ringing for the maid, she made the tea herself.

b)

if a bell rings, it makes a noise

▪ The bell rang for the end of break.

2.) ¦(TELEPHONE)¦

a) [I and T] [i]BrE

to make a telephone call to someone

= ↑call, phone ↑phone

▪ I was going to ring you but I don't have your number.

ring for

▪ Sally rang for a taxi.

see usage note ↑call¹

b)

if a telephone rings, it makes a sound to show that someone is telephoning you

▪ The phone hasn't stopped ringing all day.

3.) ¦(SOUNDS)¦ [I]

a) if your ears ring, they make a continuous sound that only you can hear, after you have been somewhere very noisy or heard a loud sound

▪ The explosion made our ears ring.

b) [i]literary if a place rings with a sound, it is full of that sound

ring with

▪ The whole room rang with their laughter.

4.) ring a bell informal

if something rings a bell, it reminds you of something, but you cannot remember exactly what it is

▪ Her name rings a bell but I can't remember her face.

5.) not ring true

if something does not ring true, you do not believe it, even though you are not sure why

▪ It was a possible explanation, but it didn't quite ring true.

6.) ring the changes

BrE to make changes to something, not because it needs changing but just in order to make it more interesting, more attractive etc

▪ Choose a variety of foods and ring the changes with meals.

7.) ring hollow

if something that someone says rings hollow, you do not feel that it is true or sincere

▪ Assurances that things have changed ring hollow in many ears.

8.) ring in your ears

if a sound or remark rings in your ears, you continue to remember it very clearly, exactly as it sounded, after it has finished

▪ He left Washington with the president's praises ringing in his ears.

ring () back [ring (sb) back] phr v

to telephone someone again, or to telephone someone because you were not available when they telephoned you

= call (somebody) back

▪ I'll ring back as soon as I find out anything.

▪ John rang, and he wants you to ring him back.

ring in phr v

1.) BrE to telephone the place where you work

▪ Jane's rung in to say she'll be late.

▪ He rang in sick (=telephoned to say he was ill) every morning for a week.

2.) ring in the New Year

to celebrate the beginning of the New Year

ring off phr v

to end a telephone call

→↑hang up

▪ He rang off without giving his name.

ring out phr v

1.) a voice, bell etc that rings out is loud and clear

▪ The sound of a shot rang out.

2.) ring out the Old Year

to celebrate the end of the year

ring round () [ring round (sb)] phr v

to make telephone calls to a group of people, in order to organize something, find out information etc

▪ I'll ring round to see whether anyone's interested in coming with us.

▪ She rang round all the agencies.

ring up phr v

1.) BrE to telephone someone

= call (somebody) up ring sb<=>up

▪ I'll ring the manager up tomorrow.

▪ I rang up and made an appointment.

2.) ring sth<=>up

to press buttons on a ↑cash register to record how much money is being put inside

▪ The cashier rang up £300 by mistake.

ring ³

ring³ past tense and past participle ringed

v [T]

1.) to surround something

▪ Thousands of people ringed the court building to demand the release of Mr Cox.

be ringed with sth

▪ Her eyes were ringed with stiff black lashes.

2.) BrE to draw a circular mark around something

= ↑circle

▪ Ring the mistakes in red.