| 释义 |
▪ I. ring, n.1|rɪŋ|
Forms: 1 hring (hringc), 3– ring, 4–7 ringe; 3–6 ryng (4 rynk, 5 ryngg-), 4–6 rynge; 4–5 reng, 5 reyng.
[Comm. Teut.: OE. hring, = OFris. hring, rhing, ring (Fris. ring), MDu. rinc, ring- (Du. ring), OS. hring (MLG. rink, ring-, LG. ring), OHG. hring (MHG. rinc, ring-, G. ring), ON. hringr (Icel. hringur, Norw., Sw., Da. ring). The pre-Teut. stem *krengho- appears in Umbrian krenkatrum ‘cingulum’, and with ablaut-variation in OSl. kragŭ circle.]
I.
1. a. A small circlet of (real or simulated) precious metal (usually gold), and frequently set with precious stones or imitations of these, intended for wearing upon the finger either as an ornament or as a token (esp. of betrothal, marriage, or investiture), and sometimes for use as a seal. Also, occasionally, an armlet or neck-ring (so in OE.).
Beowulf 1196 Him wæs..wunden gold estum ᵹeeawed, earmhreade twa, hræᵹl & hringas, heals-beaᵹa mæst. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 22 Sellað hring on hond his. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 112 Ga to ðære ylcan wyrte..& bewrit hy abutan mid anum gyldenan hringe. c1205Lay. 4513 Ihc sende þe gretinge of mine gold ringe. c1290St. Wulstan 54 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 72 Bischop him made þe holie man..and tok him is staf and ring. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1817 Ho raȝt hym a riche rynk of red golde werkez, Wyth a starande ston. 1390Gower Conf. I. 123 Whan thou hast taken eny thing Of loves yifte, or Nouche or ring. c1425Wyntoun Cron. iv. xvi. heading, How thre bollis of rengis weyr To Cartage sende. 1477Paston Lett. III. 215, I pre yow that ye wyl were the reyng with the emage of Seynt Margrete. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 367 In ringis ryally set with riche ruby stonis. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Offices 14 The manne shall geue vnto the womanne a ring. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 102 This Ring I gaue him, when he parted from me, To binde him to remember my good will. 1632Milton Penseroso 113 Canace..That own'd the vertuous Ring and Glass. 1679Est. Test 25 As if they had King Gyges his enchanted Ring, they walk invisible. 1732T. Lediard Sethos II. x. 451 My lord, I restore you the ring I took from you. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 143 He began to reflect that the dead body had got a ring upon one of the fingers. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1876) II. 115 The Doge of Venice making the Adriatic his bride, and claiming her by a ring of espousal. 1890H. Frederic Lawton Girl 45 There are times..when one likes to take off one's rings, even if the stones are perfection itself.
fig.a1225Leg. Kath. 1508 He haueð iweddet him to mi meiðhad mit te ring of rihte bileaue. 1601Shakes. All's Well iv. ii. 45 Mine Honors such a Ring, My chastities the Iewell of our house. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Land, The sea which..divided the poor Britons utterly from the world, proved to be the ring of marriage with all nations.
†b. In phr. to take the ring, as a symbol of kingship. (See also mantle n. 1 d.) Obs.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 85 To William þe rede kyng is gyuen þe coroun, At Westmynstere tok he ryng in þe abbay of Londoun.
†c. transf. A seal. Obs.—1
1637Rutherford Lett. i. xvii. (1664) 46, I shall not believe that Christ will put His Amen & ring upon an imagination.
d. A metal circlet worn elsewhere than on the finger (or arm) as an ornament.
In earlier use app. only in the comb. ear-ring. See also ankle-ring s.v. ankle n. 3, neck-ring s.v. neck n.1 16, and nose-ring 2.
1552Huloet, Rynge or lyke thynge to hange at ones eare. 1619H. Hutton Satyr. Epigr. (Percy Soc.) 41 Superbus swaggers with a ring in's eare. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 8 They wore rings in their ears. 1842Tennyson Sir Launcelot & Q. Guinevere 27 A light-green tuft of plumes she bore Closed in a golden ring. 1851D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) II. iii. v. 143 Named by antiquaries rings for the hair. 1900Fitchett Wellington's Men 103 Their ears, from which rings had been roughly snatched.
e. Phr. to get the ring, to become engaged to be married (usu. said of a woman).
1914Joyce Dubliners 122 Lizzie Fleming said Maria was sure to get the ring and..Maria had to laugh and say she didn't want any ring or man either. 1951in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 95 The girls who get the rings. 1979D. Cook Winter Doves ii. iii. 64 Got the ring yet, Walter? Has she proposed to you yet?
2. One of the small circles of iron of which coats of mail were composed. = mail n.1 1.
Beowulf 2260 Ne mæᵹ byrnan hring æfter wiᵹ-fruman wide feran. c1300Havelok 2740 He..smot him on þe sholdre so, Þat he dide þare undo Of his brinie ringes mo, Þan þat ich kan tellen fro. a1400–50Alexander 2980 Sum araies þaim in ringis & sum in row brenys. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 691 Ryngis of rank steill rattillit and rent. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iv. iv, These are called Annulets..and are supposed to be Rings of Maile. 1696Phillips s.v. Mail, A sort of defensive Armour for the Body, wrought in Rings as it were linkt together. 1728Chambers Cycl., Habergeon..[is] form'd of little Iron Rings, or Mashes, link'd into each other. 1834J. R. Planché Brit. Costume 29 As early as the eighth century they [the Anglo-Saxons] were familiar with the byrne, or tunic of rings. 1846Fairholt Costume 150 The mailles or rings of the hauberk appear,..sewn down, perhaps, on a sort of gambeson.
3. a. A circle of metal or other suitable material, of any dimension, employed as a means of attachment, suspension, compression, etc.
When the dimensions are fairly large, and the outer and inner faces are flattened, the more usual name is hoop.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxii. 168 Wyrc feower hringas ælgyldene. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt., Introd. 6 Fewere..hwommas & hringas. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 762 (Gr.), He is on þære sweartan helle hæft mid hringa ᵹesponne. c1305St. Swithin 113 in E.E.P. (1862) 46 Anoneward þer liþ a ston,..Ringes of yre þer beoþ on ynailled þerto faste. 1388Wyclif Isa. xxxvii. 29 Y schal sette a ryng in thi nosethirlis, and a bridil in thi lippis. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxxvii. (1859) 41 Anone this lady Iustyce took this balaunce by the rynge, and bygan to reyse hit vp. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 9 Sette a colte in aumblyng ringes, he wille use it whiles thei aren on. 1535Coverdale Esther i. 6 Fastened with coardes of lynnen and scarlet in siluer rynges. 1580Fabric Rolls York (Surtees) 117 For makinge a tyrret and a rynge of yron to the masons well buckett, 10 d. 1602W. Fulbecke Pandects 77 The Lord put a ring into his snowt, and brought him backe againe. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 92 [The vest] standing out round as if it had a Ring of Iron in it. 1726Gentleman Angler 5 It will be very convenient to have Rings or Eyes..placed..upon your Rod. Ibid., Through these Rings your Line must run. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Cannon, Breeching-bolts, with rings, through which the breechings pass. 1802James Milit. Dict. s.v. Cannon, The Reliever is an iron flat ring, with a wooden handle, at right angles to it. 1841Dana Seaman's Man. 87 Pass the cat-stopper through the ring of the anchor. 1860All Year Round No. 63. 307 A napkin..rolled within its ivory ring. 1868Joynson Metals 20 The chimney..is..frequently formed of only one course of bricks, strongly bound together by stout iron rings and girders.
b. A circular knocker upon a door. Now rare.
c1400Beryn 1762 No more.., þen who so shoke a rynge, Ther no man is within, þe rynging to answere. 14..Lat. Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 618 Tussimulus, i., pulsatorium, the rynge of a dore. 1585Higins tr. Junius' Nomencl. 214/2 Cornix.., the ring or iron hammer wherewith we knocke at the doore. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Aldáua de puerta, the ring or hammer of a doore. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage ii. xvii. (1614) 205 [It] is vnlawfull to knocke with the ring or hammer of a doore. 1682[see door 7 a].
†c. A coil (of wire). Obs.—1
1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4656/3 For Sale.., 226 Rings of fine Brass Wire (but 10 Rings in a Lot).
†d. = astronomer's ring (see astronomer c).
1728Chambers Cycl., Ring is also an Instrument used in Navigation, for taking the Altitudes of the Sun, &c. [Hence in later Dicts.]
†e. transf. A measure of lime, equal to half a quarter (cf. hoop n. 5). Obs.
1542Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 11 Item, to John Bube for iij. rynges of lyme..vj d. 1567Ibid. 125 One rynge of tanners lyme.
f. [a. LG. ring.] A measure of boards or staves (see quots.).
1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 65 Clapholt or Clapboard. In 1 Great Hundred 12 Rings. In 1 Ring 2 small Hundred. In 1 Small Hundred 120 Boards. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Ring, a commercial measure of staves, or wood prepared for casks, and containing four shocks.
g. = curtain ring s.v. curtain n.1 8.
1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. xv. 296 The curtain will be a good job... We shall be able to send back some dozens of the rings. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre II. i. 2 A woman..sewing rings to new curtains. 1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1106/1 Rod for curtains... Plain Ball Ends... Rings, per dozen (½ in. larger than pole).
h. A metal or plastic band placed round the leg of a bird, usu. when a nestling, so that it may be uniquely identified when caught on a later occasion; a leg-ring (see leg n. 17 a); also, a similar marker placed on a limb of a bat.
1907Brit. Birds I. 58 The plan of marking birds by an aluminium ring round the leg has often been tried, but never in a really systematic fashion... To place rings on the legs of young birds just before they fledge would not be a great difficulty. 1909Ibid. III. 5 We have had prepared a number of rings, of which we will send a supply..to any reader of the Magazine who will undertake to mark birds. 1925Turner & Gurney Bk. about Birds vii. 71 Much has been discovered about the movements of birds by fixing small numbered rings on the legs of young birds in the nest. 1958Listener 30 Oct. 684/1 The ‘ring’ is generally a thin strip of aluminium, shaped like the letter ‘C’ and is marked with a number and some sort of address. On a bird, it is clamped round the leg; but a bat's leg is too delicate for this, so the ring is put round the fore-arm. 1973Guardian 5 Feb. 11/5 The British Bird Fancy Council..is now introducing a system of coded rings..and encouraging breeders to keep full records.
i. A bottomless vessel used in ring culture.
1962H. G. W. Fogg Chrysanthemum Growing ix. 62 The roots in the rings will not need any watering between feeds. 1964Times Lit. Suppl. 21 May 442/2 Much of the early work on ring culture, a system of growing plants in bottomless pots or ‘rings’, was carried out at the Lenton Research Station under the direction of the author [sc. A. W. Billitt]. Ring culture has become now firmly established both as a commercial and amateur method of growing chrysanthemums, carnations and tomatoes. 1976Observer (Colour Suppl.) 9 May 12/2 The best way to grow tomatoes is by ‘ring culture’. The soil in the greenhouse..is replaced with aggregate, such as clinker, and the tomatoes planted in rings, or bottomless pots.
4. a. A circlet of metal suspended from a post which each of a number of riders endeavoured to carry off on the point of his lance. Chiefly in phr. to run or ride at the ring; also † to win the ring, to carry off the prize.
a1513Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxvi. (1811) 233 For Harolde was stronge of knyghtes and rychesse, he wanne the rynge. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 7 Certayn noble men made a wager to runne at the rynge. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 742 Assaying..Now the nigh aymed ring away to beare. 1625Massinger Parl. Love ii. ii, To fight at barriers, or to break a lance, Or, in their full career, to take the ring. 1686Lond. Gaz. No. 2142/3 After which they ran at the Ring, and the Marquis de la Chastre got the Prize. 1798Statist. Acc. Scotl., Dunkeld XX. 433 They spend the evening in some public competition of dexterity or skill. Of these, ‘riding at the ring’..is the chief. 1809Malkin Gil Blas viii. ix. ⁋4 Egging me on to run at the ring for every prize.
b. pl. A competitive game in which rings are thrown on to hooks.
1906B. Kennedy Wander Pict. 245 Over yonder on the [inn] wall is the target with hooks at which they play the game of rings. They stand off and pitch rubber rings on to the hooks.
5. a. One of the raised bands passing round the body of cannon as formerly made. Chiefly in combs. base-ring, cornice-ring, muzzle-ring, reinforce-ring, trunnion-ring (q.v.).
a1610Gesta Grayorum ii. in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) III. 324 His Highnes Master of the Ordinance claimes to have all peece guld in the touch-hole, or broken within the ringe. 1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 32 Her carnooze or base ring at her britch,..mousell rings at her mouth. 1645N. Stone Enchir. Fortif. 56 The Astragall, or Coronice ring. 1702Milit. Dict. s.v. Base⁓ring, The great Ring next to and behind the Touch-hole [of a cannon]. 1795Nelson 9 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) I. 430 The Agamemnon's two twenty-four pounders are both ruined: one split up to the rings. 1802James Milit. Dict., Rings of a Gun, circles of metal, of which there are five [etc.]. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 567 Reinforce,..that increase..of the metal towards the breech, which was marked on old pattern guns by rings. They are generally in cast guns omitted now.
b. (See quots.)
1688Holme Armoury iii. 462/1 The Rings, or Filets, are the curious molten work and Garnish cast on the out⁓side the Bell. 1834Penny Cycl. II. 51/1 The small eccentric rings or bands which enrich the lower part of the moulding of the Doric capital.
c. A kind of gas-check used in a cannon. In full Broadwell's ring.
1868U.S. Rep. Munit. War 105 The well-known Broadwell cap, or expansion ring,..which so effectually prevents the escape of gas. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 347.
II.
6. a. The border, rim, or outer part of some circular object, esp. of a coin or a wheel. † In OE. of land or sea, with reference to the horizon.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 1393 (Gr.), Siððan wide rad wolcnum under ofer holmes hrincg hof seleste. Ibid. 2854 Siððan þu ᵹestigest steape dune, hrincg þæs hean landes.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 238 Edward did smyte rounde peny, halfpeny, ferthyng, Þe croice passed þe bounde of alle þorghout þe ryng. a1400–50Alexander 1850 We riden on þe rime & on þe ringe seten Of þe qwele of Fortoun. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 448 Pray God your voice like a peece of vncurrant Gold be not crack'd within the ring. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 131 Two sides run upon a strait Line, which are those planted to the Ring of the wheel, and to the Ladle-board. 1690tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict., Helix, the ring, or brim of the ear.
b. The boundary of an estate. rare—1.
1598J. Manwood Lawes Forest i. (1615) 19 A Forest doth..lie open.., hauing onely but meeres and boundaries to know the Ring and vttermost Skirtes of the Forest by.
7. a. An object having the form of a circle; a circular fold, coil, or bend; a piece or part (of something) forming a circle.
c1410Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xiv, A grehounde shulde haue..a cattes tayle makynge a rynge at þe ende. 1483Cath. Angl. 308/2 A Rynge for a carte qwele, cantus. 1646Crashaw Sospetto d'Herode ix, Their lockes are beds of uncomb'd snakes that wind About their shady browes in wanton Rings. 1665Phil. Trans. I. 70 The first that have well observed this Shadow of Saturn's Body upon its Ring. 1686Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. v. 198 The rings of stone, Iron, and Copper, found about the stalks of Gorse. 1747–96H. Glasse Cookery v. 48 Strain the sauce over the woodcock, and lay on the onion in rings. 1781Cowper Retirement 231 As woodbine..In spiral rings ascends the trunk. 1817Shelley Laon i. xii. 4 Sometimes the Snake around his enemy's neck Locked in stiff rings his adamantine coil. 1852M. Arnold Future 14 The river in gleaming rings Sluggishly winds through the plain. 1882Geikie in Darwin's Life & Lett. (1887) I. 324 The origin of those remarkable rings of coral-rock in mid-ocean.
b. Anat. A structure of circular form; esp. one of the annular joints of the bodies of caterpillars and insects, or one of the cartilages of the trachea.
1580Blundevil Horsemanship iv. 43 Absirtus would haue the fundament on the out side to be cut round about, but so as the inward ring thereof be not touched, for that were dangerous, and would kill the horse. 1713Derham Phys. Theol. iv. xii. 223 Their [sc. earth-worms] Body is made throughout of small Rings, and these Rings have a curious Apparatus of Muscles. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl., Rings, of flies,..the several rounds, or circular portions, of which the bodies of these and other insects are composed. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 306 The leech has the general figure of a worm... Its skin is composed of rings. 1835–6Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 753/2 The frame⁓work or solid parts of the Crustacea consist..of a series of rings. 1859Semple Diphtheria 56 Its shape indicated that it had lined the thyroid cartilage, as far as the first rings of the trachea. 1871T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 235 In the lowest forms of the Articulata, the body is extremely elongated, and the rings proportionally numerous.
c. One of the concentric circular bands of wood constituting the yearly growth of a tree.
1671Grew Anat. Pl. i. iii. (1682) 19 The Latitudinal shootings of the Lignous Body, which in Trunks of several years growth, are apparent in so many Rings. 1788M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 418 The Directors ordered..that a number of the largest and oldest trees be cut down, in order to count the rings. 1807J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 31 Linnæus and most writers believe..that the exact age of a sound tree when felled may be known by counting these rings. 1847Tennyson Princ. v. 227 Then rode we..Beneath huge trees, a thousand rings of Spring In every bole.
d. One of the raised circular marks at the base of the horns of oxen or cows, varying in number according to the animal's age.
1725Family Dict. s.v. Ox, Some say, they can know their Age by their Horns, and that as many Rings as are about their Roots, so many Years old they are. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1132 In the horn, the first ring or circle does not take place till three years old. Ibid., These rings are often effaced..by dealers in cattle. 1847W. C. L. Martin Ox 34/1 In some cows the rings are very imperfect, or not distinctly marked, and run into each other.
e. Bot. = annulus 3.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 373 To shew (a) the Ring; (b) the Stem; (c) the Pileus. Ibid. III. 748 Osmunda..Capsules roundish, on pedicles, encompassed by a jointed elastic ring. 1859T. Moore Brit. Ferns 12 The..spore cases..are mostly minute roundish-oval bodies, containing one cavity, and nearly surrounded by a jointed vertical band called a ring. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 593 Between two bundles of a ring lies a radial band of intermediate tissue.
f. slang. The anus. Phr. to spew one's ring (and similar phrases), to vomit violently.
1949Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) 1154/1 Ring,..anus (also ring-piece): low: late C. 19–20. 1952T. A. G. Hungerford Ridge & River 130 ‘I'd get shot in the ring, that's what I'd get,’ said Wallace. 1965R. Stow Merry-go-Round in Sea 174, I bet I would have booted him in the ring if he hadn't run. 1966K. Amis Anti-Death League i. 32 Then the technique is to slip him a glass of Scotch or whatever he's hooked on about half a minute before the emetine makes him spew his ring. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 105, I can't take this sodding shitting Wog beer... Makes me spew my ring every time! 1978R. Busby Garvey's Code iii. 28 We just left the husband and he's bringing his ring up.
8. a. A circular mark, esp. in phr. rings round (or under) the eyes; also = fairy-ring.
1626Maldon, Essex Bundle 108, no. 9, A tall darkeish graye gelding, having two white ringes, abowt each eare one. 1784Cowper Tiroc. 307 As happy as we once, to kneel and draw The chalky ring, and knuckle down at taw. 1832Lytton E. Aram i. x, The mystic ring on the soft turf. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxvii. 27 One would aim an arrow fair,..And one would pierce an outer ring, And one an inner. 1850Thackeray Pendennis II. vii. 70 The rings round his eyes were of the colour of bistre. 1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xii. 472 He looked very wan, with the dark rings round his eyes, a deeper purple than ever. 1891‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley ix, The great rings round her eyes betokened a sleepless night. 1902A. Bennett Anna of Five Towns x. 258 It's a shame to send you home with those rings round your eyes. 1911O. Onions Widdershins 270 The bistred rings that weeks of nursing had put under her dark eyes. 1973R. Thomas If you can't be Good xiii. 111, I thought there were some new lines in his face. I wasn't imagining the dark rings under his eyes. 1981T. Heald Murder at Moose Jaw xi. 133 There were dark rings under her eyes and her face was pinched.
b. A circle, or circular band, of light or colour.
The phrases swelce an fyrenhring, swylce sunnan hring, occur in OE., but there is no evidence of historic continuity.
1648Hexham ii, Den Ringh om de Mane, the Ring or the Circle about the Moone. 1771Encycl. Brit. I. 440/1 They likewise..saw a luminous ring round the body of Venus. 1819Pantologia X, Rings of colours, in optics, a phænomenon first observed in thin plates of various substances. 1858Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 354 A large ring round the moon, formed of light clouds. 1871Rossetti Last Confession 129 The rings of light quivered like forest-leaves.
c. An excision of bark made round a branch or the trunk of a tree. (Cf. ring v.1 9 b.)
1817Hort. Soc. Trans. II. 266 He..reduced the rings to between one eighth and two eighths of an inch in width,..and the trees did well. 1852Johnson Cottage Gard. Dict. 780/2 Ringing is cutting away a belt of bark... When first suggested it was called the Ring of Pomona.
d. One of the expanding circular ripples caused by something falling or being cast into still water.
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 125 The rings went whirling round Till they touch'd the flaggy bank. Ibid. 132 As each nimble eye Saw the rings the dropples made. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 229 When a stone is thrown into calm water a series of rings spread themselves [etc.].
e. A gold-coloured band worn on the sleeve to designate rank in the armed services. Also transf.
1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 13 June 32 They were all of superior rank to myself... My solitary ring did not allow me to voice my suspicions. 1943Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 55 Rings, abbreviated reference to an Officer's rank, denoted in the Navy and R.A.F. by the number of rings on his sleeve. 1950‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai xv. 116 Bull's got more rings than I have. Why shouldn't he have his headaches too? 1952M. Tripp Faith is Windsock i. 14 Now that Bergen has got his ring there doesn't seem so much point in staying N.C.O. with the others. 1953‘N. Shute’ In Wet v. 164 Go into the R.A.F. and try to make a go of it, and get the rings because you've earned them, not because you're heir to the Throne. 1970D. Francis Rat Race iv. 55 No such thing was possible in one of his aircraft, he had told me stiffly, and I could take my four gold rings away... I hadn't worn my captain's jacket for nearly two years. 1976‘A. Hall’ Kobra Manifesto xvi. 218 The pilot stood there, a tall mahogany-faced type with four gold rings on his sleeve.
9. a. In various technical or special senses: (see quots.).
a.1669Sc. Acts Parl. (1820) VII. 647 The..milne of Provand, milnelands, astrictit multers,..rings, sequells and pertinents thereof. 1814in Jamieson (1825) s.v., The Ring is the meal which, in the course of grinding, falls round the mill stone, between it and the wooden case surrounding it. [Cf. mill-ring s.v. mill n. 12.]
b.1712Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. 129 Sand in three or four Layers, or Compartments divided from each other by thin Partitions of Stone, there [at Easton near Stamford] called Rings.
c.1791Statist. Acc. Scotl., Lauder I. 77 There are many Pictish and Scotch encampments in this parish... All of them are of a round or oval figure, and are called rings by the common people. 1815Pennecuik's Wks. 203 One of those Rings, consisting of a ditch and earthen rampart, for the protection of cattle and other property. 1898J. Heron Celtic Church Ireland 36 Some have a single ‘ring’ or rampart.
d.1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 473 Pieces of clay of different sizes and shapes, called stilts, cockspurs, rings, pins, bats, &c. are put to keep them [sc. the glazed articles in the saggers] apart.
e.1823Crabb Technol. Dict., Ring (Geom.), a figure returning into itself, the axis being bent round into a circular form. 1842Francis Dict. Arts, Ring,..a surface or solid; the space between one concentric circle or oval and another cut out of it. It may be either superficial or solid.
f.1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 69/1 Before the cement..had taken a set in the interior of the brickwork forming the ring [= voussoirs] of the arch. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 311/1 The ring when not of equal thickness is always made of least depth at the crown.
g.1846Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 3), Ring, a circular spout in the shaft of a coal pit for collecting the side feeders of water into a box. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Ring, a gutter cut around a shaft to catch and conduct away the water. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Ring, a complete circle of tubbing plates placed round a pit-shaft.
h.1882Standard 26 Sept. 2/2 They [whelks] are also caught in nets called ‘hoops’ or ‘rings’.
i.1835A. Smith Diary 27 July (1940) II. 131 The old ring-kop was speaking... This ring-kop was the person in charge of the party... None of the others had rings. 1866[see head-ring s.v. head n.1 66]. 1887Rider Haggard Allan Quatermain 15 Among the Zulus a man assumes the ring, which is made of a species of black gum twisted in the hair,..when he has reached a certain dignity. 1925D. Kidd Essential Kaffir 33 Only married men are allowed to wear this ring. 1952[see head-ring s.v. head n.1 66].
III. 10. a. A circle or circular group of persons. in a ring, in circular formation, arranged or grouped in a circle.
In first quot. used of the birds surrounding the phœnix.
c900Phœnix 339 Fuᵹla cynn..þone halᵹan hringe beteldað. c1230Hali Meid. 21 In heore ring þer is godd self; & his deore moder [etc.]. Ibid. Ha beoð i widewene ring, & schulen, i widewene ring, bifore þe iweddede singen in heuene. 13..K. Alis. 1111 (Bodl. MS.), Alisaundres folk vmflynge Fyue hundred vpon a rynge. c1450Holland Howlat 790 Fair ladyis in ryngis, Knychtis in caralyngis, Boith dansis and syngis. 1513Douglas æneis iv. iv. 37 Quhen Apollo list..ga..To vesy Delos..Renewand ringis and dancis, mony a rowt. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 280 They putting them selves into a ringe,..stand to their defence. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 162 Make a Ring about the Corpes of Cæsar. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 250 They all rise upright and put themselves into a Ring one behind another. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. iv. §13 When one of them has got a ring of disciples round him. 1762Sir W. Jones Arcadia Poems (1777) 107 The swains before them crouded in a ring. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies xxv, The ring being formed, two or three hunters ride towards the horses, who start off in an opposite direction. 1865Kingsley Herew. iii, The housecarles had closed round him in a ring with the intention of seizing him.
†b. In phr. to lead (or † rule) the ring, to take the lead, to be foremost or first. Obs. (Cf. ringleader.)
c1340Nominale (Skeat) 214 Femme treche mene pur deduyt, Woman the ryng leduth for ioye. a1529Skelton Sp. Parrot 132 Bo ho doth bark wel, but Hough ho he rulyth the ring. 1578Gude & Godlie B. (1867) 178 Lyke prince and king he led the ring Of all iniquitie. 1636Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. lix. 159 Alexander Gordon shall lead the ring in witnessing a good confession. 1652Bp. Hall Invis. World iii. §2 It was in all likelihood some prime angel of heaven that first started aside from his station and led the ring of this highest and first revolt.
c. A number of things arranged in a circle. Also fig.
1587Golding De Mornay ii. (1592) 17 All [creatures] are so linked together, that the ring thereof cannot be broken without confusion. 1618Bolton Florus iii. vi. (1636) 192 They beheld the beak-heads of our clashing gallies charge in ring upon them. 1784Cowper Task i. 223 Environ'd with a ring of branching elms. 1820Shelley Orpheus 2 Yonder pointed hill, Crowned with a ring of oaks. 1866Brande & Cox Dict. Sci., etc. s.v. Meteors, Small bodies revolving round the sun.., congregated in several rings—tangible orbits, as it were. 1894Labour Commission Gloss. s.v., In the potting industry what is called the first ring is composed of the bungs set next to the arches forming the first circle of ‘saggers’..in the oven.
d. Chem. A number of atoms bonded together to form a closed chain.
1869Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXII. 361 The hydrocarbon benzole is of so much interest from its derivatives, that it has attracted a good deal of attention, and to explain its molecular constitution, the six atoms of carbon have been represented as arranged in a ring. 1889G. M'Gowan tr. Bernthsen's Text-bk. Org. Chem. 461 Phthalic acid or its derivatives ensue on the breaking up of the compound, not only from one but from both of the six-cornered rings. 1927N. V. Sidgwick Electronic Theory of Valency xiv. 251 Only a very few chelate rings of more than six atoms have been observed. 1950Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) X. 339/1 Treatment of pyrrole with hydroxylamine causes a smooth opening of the ring. 1964N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. ii. 21 Pyridine..has a structure very similar to that of benzene; the six-membered ring, however, contains a trivalent nitrogen atom. 1974D. M. Adams Inorg. Solids vi. 183 Sulphur has quite a complex allotropy: the thermodynamically stable form consists of S8 crown-shaped rings in close-packed layers.
e. Cytology. A chromosome, group of chromosomes, or part of a chromosome in the form of a loop, without free ends.
1929Jrnl. Genetics XXI. 44 A single ring of four may be formed at diakinesis, the other chromosomes assorting themselves in separate pairs. 1949Darlington & Mather Elem. Genetics vi. 129 From the exchange system of pairing a ring of four, chain of four, two chains of two, or a chain of three with a univalent, can arise at metaphase. Ibid. xii. 263 Oenothera lamarckiana, whose chromosomes normally form a ring of 12 and one pair. 1962Lancet 29 Dec. 1384/1 Monosomic chromosomes may be subject to hazards in meiosis—from autosynapsis, leading to centric and acentric rings and fragments, to centric aberrations leading to iso-chromosomes.
11. a. A combination of interested persons to monopolize and control a particular trade or market for their private advantage. spec. a combination of dealers, contractors, or the like, who cooperate in buying or selling at agreed price-levels, in order to increase their profits. Also attrib. orig. chiefly U.S.
1869J. H. Browne Gt. Metrop. 48 (Funk), Stocks are what the brokers make them, and their varying rate is determined by a ‘ring’. 1870W. W. Fowler Ten Years in Wall St. i. 28 The bulls often unite to raise the value of particular stocks, and form those combinations known in the ‘Street’ as ‘cliques’, ‘rings’ or ‘pools’,—terms nearly synonymous. 1880Manch. Guard. 2 Nov., A ‘ring’ of Canadian producers obtained legislation which practically excluded all American oils from our market. 1890G. B. Shaw Fabian Ess. 94 The ‘ring’ is being succeeded by a more elaborate organization, known as the ‘trust’. 1909[see conference 4 e]. 1929Times 31 Oct. 14/4 In order to safeguard the home consumer against exploitation by the producers' ‘rings’, which the coal-marketing schemes will establish, the Government will set up in every district a special committee to keep a watch on prices. 1936Sun (Baltimore) 2 Dec. 3/1 In addition Thorp advocates..more stringent regulations of auction and sales rings. 1949J. Symons Bland Beginning 22 That's Foskiss. Buys everything for the ring. Doesn't give the small men a chance. 1955Times 13 May 9/1 Wellington City Council, which recently protested strongly against the submission of equal tenders by a number of British firms, has now decided to accept a tender for electric cable which is {pstlg}3,000 below the ‘ring price’. 1961R. Godden China Court vii. 274 She comes back from sale after sale... She gets to know their ‘tricks’ as she calls them, a childish word for the ring. 1964[see monopsony]. 1968R. H. R. Smithies Shoplifter viii. 175 The Ring..was an organization of English dealers who attempted to take over the entire antiques business—rigging auctions, intimidating retailers, fixing prices. 1968Sunday Times 10 Nov. 1/2 Ring dealing is when dealers agree not to force the price up by bidding against each other at an auction. 1971Nature 6 Aug. 365/1 The overt reason for the anti-trust laws is to prevent the formation of cartels and similar price-fixing rings. 1972‘M. Delving’ Shadow of Himself ii. 24 ‘I don't doubt there'll be a ring,’ he added, bitterly... He was referring to the system by which several dealers agree to let one of their number bid for all, thus cutting down the competition and squeezing out opposition.
b. An organization which endeavours to control politics or local affairs in its own interest.
1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vi, The Tammany Ring, which is to take the place of the feudal lord. 1882L. Stephen Swift 91 The war was the creation of the Whig ‘ring’. 1893Goldw. Smith Ess. 157 American citizens outside the political ring are ambitious of being great citizens.
c. An organization or network of people engaged in espionage.
1943D. Powell Time to be Born vi. 128 He had no secret mission to investigate the spy rings and unmask the Nazi agents. 1961R. Seth Anat. Spying iii. 45 In a very short time counter-espionage knew the names and whereabouts of all twenty-six members of the ring. 1972A. Morice Murder on French Leave viii. 104 The cinema had been the meeting-place with another operator in the spy ring. 1981R. Airth Once a Spy xii. 139 When Franklyn's ring broke up..I went back to work for Bonn.
12. Math. [a. G. ring, used in this sense.] A set of elements with two binary operations (‘addition’ and ‘multiplication’) which is a group under addition and closed under multiplication, and with the property that multiplication is distributive over addition and associative.
Some writers also require a ring to have an identity element for multiplication.
1935Ann. Math. XXXVI. 406 It is only in integrally closed rings like in the theory of algebraic numbers that the decomposition theorems naturally take on a multiplicative form. 1967[see field theory]. 1968D. G. Northcott Lessons on Rings, Modules & Multiplicities i. 1 From this point onwards, when we speak of a ring it is to be understood that we always mean a ring with an identity element. 1971J. H. Conway in Powell & Higman Finite Simple Groups vii. 244 The ring of 24 × 24 matrices.
IV.
13. a. An enclosed circular space within which some sport, performance, or exhibition (esp. of riding or racing) takes place.
In early quots. used allusively.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11858 Þat we haue wonne, y sette at nought, But ȝif þe Romayns to ryng be brought. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1887 Ariadne, Mynos,..Now cometh thy lotte; now comestow on the rynge. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas vii. v. (1554) 168 b/1 Nero y⊇ tyrant cometh next vnto the ryng. Ibid. ix. vi. 200 b/1 Next came Gisulphus to Bochas on the ryng. c1435Torr. Portugal 2454 The castelle court was large within, They made ryngis ffor to ren. 1587Nottingham Rec. IV. 216 We present the Bull Ringe to want raylinge. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. Prol., If any heart Pierc't through with anguish pant within this ring. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 253 Virgil also describeth a swift and sluggish Horse most excellently in these verses; sending one of them to the Ring, and victory of running. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 182 The Lapithæ..taught the Steed to bound; To run the Ring, and trace the mazy Round. 1740Somerville Hobbinol iii. 227 Room for the Master of the Ring; ye Swains! 1854Dickens Hard T. i. ii, They do break horses in the ring. 1883J. Parker Tyne Chylde 274 The sawdust ring of a bankrupt circus.
†b. A circular course in Hyde Park, used for riding and driving. Obs.
1676G. Etherege Man of Mode iii. ii, All the world will in the Park to-night: Ladies, 'Twere pity to..rob the ring of all those Charms That should adorn it. 1693Humours Town 119 We'll to Hide Park;..my Mother's Coach is below, and shall carry us, to make a Figure in the Ring. 1715Addison Drummer iv. i, Six as pretty horses as any that appear in the ring. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. ii. ii, You may see her on a little squat pony,..puffing round the Ring on a full trot. 1840Hood Kilmansegg, Accident 536 She has circled the Ring!—she crosses the Park! 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xlix, That kind of company which..is known to exist as well as the Ring in Hyde Park or the Congregation at St. James's.
14. a. A space, originally defined by a circle of bystanders, for a prize-fight or a wrestling-match; often in phr. to make a ring; also to keep (or hold) the ring, to be an onlooker at a fight; to stand by while others quarrel (chiefly fig.). Hence the ring, pugilism as an institution or a profession; also collect. those interested in boxing. (Cf. prize-ring.)
[1659Clarke Papers (Camden) IV. 300 The soldyers generally say they will not fight, but will make a ring for their officers to fight in.] a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, A Ring, a Concourse of People for Wrestling [etc.]. 1736Gentl. Mag. VI. 744/2 Grave Sirs—you're at the Wrestling Ring. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 177/1 A master of the gymnastic art attends a young man to fit him for the ring. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 96 He did not wrestle with such luck, through the ring, for the first prize, as the champion. 1829P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 678 At least 500 Irishmen, armed à la shilelah, kept the ring. 1841Borrow Zincali II. ii. iii. 152 To converse with the pugilists of the ring, and the jockeys of the racecourse. 1896G. M. Stisted True Life R. F. Burton vii. 165 In fact, England [in 1855] was, in the parlance of the ring, getting her second wind. 1905Spectator 21 Jan. 79/1 There is a cynicism which nothing but conscious impotence could excuse in the thought of ‘keeping a ring’ while the Bulgarians of the Principality..are drawn into a life-and-death struggle with the Turks. 1924Galsworthy White Monkey i. vii. 54 Keep clear and keep the ring!.. Good friendly terms with..all the outlying countries that we can get at by sea. And let the others dree their weirds. 1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) iii. xv. 166 There are still many people who hold that the State ought not to meddle with industry,..but should confine itself to holding the ring while the disputants fight out their differences. 1970Times 8 Apr. 1 Is there a limit to the amount of time that the Army can reasonably be expected to stay here [sc. in Ulster] holding the ring, if the humans involved here are not going to solve their own problems? 1970Atlantic Monthly Nov. 6 Does the phrase ‘Asians helping Asians’, or, as critics put it, ‘Asians fighting Asians’, mean that the United States will provide everything but the front-line manpower, or that it will step back and help hold the ring, or that it will become a mere spectator? 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 400/1 Its [sc. Government's] task in the economic field is to hold the ring between the many popular pressures, frequently irreconcilable, which assert themselves.
b. An enclosed space in a racing-ground frequented by bookmakers; also collect. the bookmaking profession.
1775G. Selwyn Let. 8 Dec. in 15th Rep. R. Comm. Hist. Manuscripts App. vi. 306 in Parl. Papers 1897 (C. 8551) LI. 1 The devil a bit will he ever part with, but by putting it into the Ring, where he is nicked, and the money gone. 1822Sporting Mag. X. 4/2 Mr. Bayzand was well known in the ring as a betting man. Ibid. 192/2 He never opened his mouth in the ring under five hundred. 1845Disraeli Sybil I. i. ii. 12 ‘Will any one do anything about Hybiscus?’ sang out a gentleman in the ring at Epsom. 1859Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 204 A shaven grass-plat of circular form. This is the famous ‘Ring’, of which you have heard so much. 1874Slang Dict. 270 Ring, the open space in front of a racecourse stand, which is used for betting purposes. 1894Westm. Gaz. 13 Sept. 2/2 ‘The Ring’ had scarcely any existence as a constituted host such as it now is before 1842.
c. An enclosed or clear space in an auction-mart, used for the display of live stock, etc.
1890Daily News 7 Jan. 2/1 Now..a London merchant who wishes to purchase iron can walk across to the metal market where his iron will be purchased publicly in the open ring. 1901Scotsman 3 Apr. 7/3 Irish cattle met a somewhat stiff trade in the ring, but a good clearance was afterwards got privately.
d. A prison-yard; a fence or wall surrounding this.
1898O. Wilde Ballad of Reading Gaol 7 And I and all the souls in pain, Who tramped the other ring. 1900‘Odysseus’ Turkey in Europe i. 28 They [sc. the Avars] were celebrated for their ‘rings’, enormous circular fences with which they surrounded the prisoners and plunder they had taken.
e. Austral. (See quot. 1941.)
1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 60 Ring, the scene of operations of a two-up school or the school itself. 1948[see double-header e].
15. a. A circular or spiral orbit or course; also ring-around. in a ring, † in ring, in a circle.
In various OE. glosses hring is used to render L. orbis or spira. Phrases like ᵹeares hring also occur in translations of Latin texts.
1589Nashe Martin Marprel. Wks. (Grosart) I. 81 How my Palfrey..daunced the Goates iumpe, when I ranne the ring round about him to retriue him. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1623) 2 One of the Bees.., when she hath cast a Ring, to know where she is, will fly as directly home as the other. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 91 As for their motion in ring or circular. 1728–46Thomson Spring 618 First, wide around,..in airy rings they rove. 1781Cowper Anti-Thelyphth. 32 They sport like wanton doves in airy rings. 1818Shelley Rosal. & Helen 1167 In aery rings they bound. a1845Hood Agric. Distress 140 You're nothing near the thing! You only argy in a ring. 1881Macm. Mag. Nov. 40 Others [of the larks]..go gaily up in circular rings, ‘ringing’ as the falconers call it. 1907Joyce Chamber Music p. ix, Winds of May, that dance on the sea, Dancing a ring-around in glee From furrow to furrow.
transf.1714Young Force of Relig. ii. 200 Decrepid winter, in the yearly ring, Thus slowly creeps, to meet the blooming spring.
†b. Of horses, in phr. to trot rings or gallop rings.
1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iii, And now Auroras horse trots azure rings. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 15 When he will trot his Rings well, then in the same manner..you shall make him gallop the same Rings.
c. Hunting. A circling run.
1810Sporting Mag. XXXV. 300 After a severe ring under the hill, followed by a fine run over the heath. 1813Ibid. XLI. 205 A fine dog fox was soon unkenneled, and after making a ring in the plantation, he broke away.
d. to run rings round, to excel or surpass (one) with the greatest ease; to beat easily. Also with make, and in extended uses.
1891Melbourne Argus 10 Oct. 13/3 Considine could run rings round the lot of them. 1894G. Parker in Westm. Gaz. 7 July 1/3 He could run rings round us in everything. 1907Wodehouse White Feather viii. 88 Dexter's had taken thirty points off the School House just after half-time. ‘Mopped them up,’ said the terse and epigrammatic Painter. ‘Made rings round them.’ 1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 139 Snatches of familiar flying-talk..made rings round the Hun. c1928T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 572 It riles me unbearably to lose my scalp to a lot of fellows round whom I can make rings. 1939War Illustr. 4 Nov. 252/1 We saw a large black aeroplane travelling at a high speed. It was being pursued by two British fighters and they made rings round it. 1947Sporting Mirror 7 Nov. 10/3 The return of Dodds revitalised the Everton attack which ran rings round Sheffield United. 1950‘S. Ransome’ Deadly Miss Ashley iii. 39, I can't help feeling we're having rings run around us. 1961E. Waugh Unconditional Surrender iii. iv. 292 Tito has..gone to join the Russians... Our chaps are rather annoyed about it... I bet Winston is. I told you he'd make rings round the old boy. 1973‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xxxiv. 167 The deal's been bust... The Russians ran rings round us. 1980Times Lit. Suppl. 27 June 724/2 Balfour was an undeniable flop and Joseph Chamberlain made rings round him.
V. attrib. and Comb.
16. General attrib. uses:
a. In senses 1, 3, etc., as ring-chain, ring-digit, ring-game, ring lore, ring mystery, ring plait, ring-relic, ring-system, ring-token; ring-bearer, ring-finder, ring-giver, ring-maker; ring-giving, ring-having; ring-adorned, ring-formed, ring-handled, ring-shaped adjs.; ring-bright, ring-like adjs.; ring-wise adv.
1850Smedley Frank Fairleigh iv, [He] arranged his curls with a *ring-adorned hand.
1932W. Faulkner Light in August xi. 237 He was twelve then, and they wanted him to be the *ringbearer. 1954J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. viii. 393 ‘And you, Ring-bearer,’ she said, turning to Frodo. 1976Laurel (Montana) Outlook 30 June 3/5 Gary Martin of Laurel, brother of the groom, was ring bearer.
1949Blunden After Bombing 14 A child's eye drooped, so gleamed the *ring-bright shell.
1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 321 A new and more perfect arrangement of the *ring-chain was introduced.
1873Mivart Elem. Anat. 152 The fourth, is the ‘*ring-digit’.
1954J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. i. 237 And you are the heir of Bilbo, the *Ring-finder.
1847Webster (citing Whewell), *Ring-formed. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 899 There is..a primary degeneration of the skin, a sort of ring-formed sclerodermia.
1886Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Mar. 239 The *ring-games, or ‘carols’, are great favorites, as they were among the English court ladies. 1916A. S. Neill Dominie Dismissed vii. 98 The ring games down at the school there nearly all deal with love and matrimony. 1972Times 7 Aug. (Jamaica Suppl.) p. ii/4 She has recorded Kumina music, ring games and Pocomania meetings.
1886Corbett Fall of Asgard I. 184 Priest of Vold my father was, Rich *ring-giver he.
1877W. Jones Finger-ring 311 The *ring-giving was followed by the usual sacrament in church.
1871P. Smith Anc. Hist. East ix. §21 (1881) 177 Such a hawk is seen in a vignette of the Ritual of the Dead, carrying the *ring⁓handled cross.
1912E. Pound Ripostes 27 He hath not heart for harping, nor in *ring-having Nor winsomeness to wife.
1611Cotgr., Annelé, ringed,..marked with round or *ring like spots. 1698Phil. Trans. XX. 173 The Ring-like Wrinkles I have also observed or discovered in the Optick Nerves of the said Fly. 1883Huxley Pract. Biol. 130 The ring-like somite with its pair of appendages.
1890W. Jones Finger-Ring Lore p. vii, In thus contributing to the extension of knowledge, the subject of *ring-lore has a close affinity to that of numismatics, but it possesses the supreme advantage of appealing to our sympathies and affections. 1954J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. ii. 57 All that he would reveal to us of his ring-lore.
14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 686 Hic anularius, a *ryngmaker. 1648Hexham ii, Een Ringh-maker, a Ring⁓maker, a Jeweller. 1845Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. 198/1 Ring makers and turners.
1877W. Jones Finger-ring 111 This *ring mystery, the Dactylomancia.., was a favourite operation of the ancients.
1908W. G. Collingwood Scandinavian Brit. 245 The ornament with *ring-plaits..cannot be earlier than the tenth century.
1877W. Jones Finger-ring 475 A *ring-relic of Fotheringay..is of gold, set with a diamond.
1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 210 *Ring-shaped crystal. 1893Tuckey Amphioxus 161 A broad ring-shaped wall of thin columnar ciliated cells.
1869Fortn. Rev. Feb. 247 It often happens that the whole character of the *ring-system is changed.
1877W. Jones Finger-ring 331 The famous Guy, Earl of Warwick..sends a *ring-token to the fair Félice.
1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Invent. ⁋5 Either along a Rule or *Ring-wise. 1901Daily News 2 Sept. 3/3 A large flint perforated ring⁓wise through the centre.
†b. Sc. In sense 9 a, as ring-bear, ring-corn, ring-malt.
1473Rental Bk. Cupar Angus (1879) I. 178 Our corn myle..with al multuris..togiddyr with the ryng beir. c1592Reg. Arbroath (Bann. Cl.) I. App. p. xxiv, Kirktounmilne with the astrict multures, ringbeir and vtheris proffites. 1814Abstract, Proof concern. the Mill of Inveramsy 2 (Jam.), By Decreet Arbitral, 1 firlot of corn and 1 firlot of malt, as ring-corn and ring-malt, out of each plough.
c. In senses 13 and 14, as ring-corner, ring-fighter, ring-goer, etc.; ringwise adj.
1894A. Morrison Mean Streets 140 Neddy sat in his chair in the *ring-corner, and spread his arms on the ropes.
1848tr. Hoffmeister's Trav. Ceylon, etc. vii. 267 Jugglers, *ring-fighters, wrestlers and dancers.
1820Sporting Mag. VI. 175 To the majority of the present *ring-goers, it was mere hearsay.
1944Sun (Baltimore) 29 Mar. 15/2 Salica, *ringwise and cunning, was unwilling to trade punches. 1958F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 95 Ringwise, gifted in ring tactics.
d. In sense 11 b, as ring-government, etc.
1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lxiv. 477 The materials for real ring government do not exist..outside the large cities. Ibid., The general laws of ring growth. Ibid., Country places and the smaller cities are not ring-ridden. 1889Spectator 12 Oct., Judges, district attorneys, and other functionaries owe their places to ring politicians.
e. Chem. In sense 10 d, as ring-closure, ring-compound, ring-formation, ring-opening, ring-structure, etc.
1946Nature 28 Dec. 930/1 The problem of effecting ring-closure through the meta- and para-positions of the benzene nucleus. 1964N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. xv. 294 On heating..these compounds readily undergo ring-closure through loss of a molecule of ethanol.
1932Discovery Aug. 246/1 The changes during the coalification process proceed only to a half-way stage between the most stable kind of carbon chain compound, and the most stable kind of ring compound. 1961New Scientist 16 Mar. 668/1 Almost any organic compound gets decomposed in time, even stable ring compounds like phenol, naphthalene and toluene.
1913J. B. Cohen Org. Chem. Adv. Students II. ii. 111 Nearly all the above reactions may become intra⁓molecular if the necessary grouping is present, and in such cases ring formation follows. 1967Margerison & East Introd. Polymer Chem. iii. 129 These formulations of the reactions of difunctional monomers have ignored the possibility of ring formation.
1959Ring-opening [see decarboxylate v.]. 1967Margerison & East Introd. Polymer Chem. v. 261 Other ring-opening polymerizations in this class include the conversion of caprolactam to nylon 6.
1930Engineering 18 Apr. 525/2 These investigations indicated that the cellulose molecule had a ring structure.
17. Attrib., in the sense ‘having the shape of a ring, annular, circular’, as ring-base, ring battalia, ring-brooch, ring-ditch, ring-foot, ring-gasket, ring handle, ring-hook, ring loaf, ring nebula, ring-scissors, ring-weight, etc.
1957V. G. Childe Dawn European Civilization (ed. 6) v. 60 Ring bases and genuine handles betoken an unusual degree of sophistication. 1960T. Burton-Brown Early Mediterranean Migrations i. 27 The comparative frequency of ring-bases in the red-polished..wares..is a detail of some significance.
1638J. Underhill News fr. Amer. in Mass. Hist. Coll. (1837) VI. 23 Placing the Indians..with⁓out side of our soldiers in a ring battalia.
1883C. T. Gatty Catal. Mediæval & Later Antiquities Mayer Museum 37 Ring brooch, in silver; inscribed on one side, in niello work, + ave: maria: gracia: plena: d, and on the other + agla + no. a + s: blasiv. 1931J. Evans Eng. Posies & Posy Rings p. xii, Such inscriptions were commonly engraved in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries on the ring-brooches that were used to fasten the dress at the neck. 1977Antiquaries Jrnl. LVII. 457/1 Note on the significance of the Londesborough ring brooch.
1936Oxoniensia I. 8 In the following pages some account is given of the investigation of barrows and ring-ditches in the Oxford area. 1954S. Piggott Neolithic Cultures ii. 32 These cultures are sometimes associated with causewayed ring-ditches of a funerary or ceremonial nature.
1927Peake & Fleure Priests & Kings x. 162 Deep cups have been found with rounded bottoms, also bottles with lugs instead of handles and sometimes with hollow ring-feet. 1980Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 76 The well-finished ring foot decorated with incised key-fret.
1972L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations ix. 93 An AX ring gasket provides a metal-to-metal seal between the connector and the wellhead.
1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 199 The doors of the..stables should be provided with sunk flush ring-handles.
1936Burlington Mag. July 26/1 The pair of..candlesticks with ring-handles has the Britannia standard marks with the date-letter for 1736–37. 1972Trans. Oriental Ceramic Soc. XXXVIII. 58 A grey earthenware jar and cover, with ring-handle masks in relief.
1913J. Masefield Daffodil Fields 72 Its open door, With old wrought bridle ring-hooks at each flank. 1961B.S.I. News Nov. 25 (title) Dimensions of ring-hook automatic hitch.
1802Southey King Ramiro viii, I would give you a roasted capon first, And a good ring loaf of wheaten bread.
1878Newcomb Pop. Astron. iv. i. 449 The annular, or ring-nebula of Lyra.
1742Edin. Med. Ess. V. 445 A Ring-scalpel for assisting the Delivery of Woman in Child-birth; by Dr. Thomas Simson.
1908Practitioner June 769 Later Mr. Jessop introduced his ‘ring-scissors’, which made this piecemeal removal of the gland an easier matter.
1574Richmond Wills (Surtees) 253 ij wayne shackells,..one ring shackell.
1727Boyer Dict. Royal II. s.v. Ring, A Ring-thimble.
1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 63 Ring tires are used for light 3-pounders and hand-cart wheels.
1922Joyce Ulysses 665 Though ringweight lifting had been beyond his strength..he had excelled in his stable and protracted execution of the half lever movement on the parallel bars.
18. In combs. of the type ring-banded, ring-billed, ring-eyed, ring-notched, occurring in the specific names of animals or birds. See also ring-necked a., ring-tailed a.
1802Shaw Gen. Zool. III. ii. 492 Ring-banded Snake, Coluber Doliatus... A small, but highly elegant, species. 1831[see ring-billed (mew) gull, 19 b.] 1852Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds V. 326 Uria Lacrymans,..Ringed or Ring-Eyed Guillemot. 1874J. W. Long Amer. Wildfowl 276 Ring-necked Duck... Local names, ‘Ring⁓billed Duck’ [etc.]. 1890J. P. Ballard Among Moths 79 The black ring-notched chrysalis.
19. a. Special combs., as ring armature Electr., an armature having a ring winding; ring-armour, armour composed of metal rings (see sense 2), ring-mail; ring-bayonet, a bayonet provided with a ring, by which to fix it in position upon the musket; ring beam, a ring-shaped beam of yarn; ring binder, a loose-leaf binder having clasps that pass through holes in the paper and can be closed to form rings; similarly ring binding; ring-bit, a horse-bit having rings at the ends; ring book, a notebook having the form of a ring binder; ring-boot, a rubber ring placed on a horse's fetlock to prevent interfering; ring-bored a., of a gun-barrel, bored roughly, so as to leave the metal in rings; ring-building Archæol., the forming of vessels by adding successive layers of ring-shaped pieces of clay; hence ring-built a.; ring-canal, a circular canal forming part of the structure of cœlenterates and of echinoderms; † ring-carrier, a go-between; ring-cartilage, the cricoid cartilage; † ring-chopper, one who swindles by means of a worthless ring; ring-chuck, a form of chuck, the grip of which may be tightened by means of a ring; ring circuit, (a) Electronics = ring counter below; (b) Electr., a wiring arrangement for power distribution in domestic or similar premises in which sockets and fixed appliances are connected to a single loop of cable which starts from and returns to a fuse-box; † ring-coal (see quot.); † ring-coffin (see coffin n. 9); ring complex Geol., an association of igneous intrusions arranged in an arcuate or ring-like plan; ring counter Electronics, a counting circuit consisting of a number of flip-flops or other bistable devices wired in a closed loop; ring-craft, skill in pugilism; also transf. of other sports; ring-crib (see quots. and crib n. 12); ring-cross, the figure of a cross enclosed in a ring or circle; ring culture, the technique of growing plants in a bottomless cylinder containing nutrients and resting on an inert bed through which water is provided; ring current, (a) Geophysics, a belt of charged particles which orbit the earth, trapped by the magnetic field in its ionosphere; (b) Chem., a circulation of electrons in an annular molecular orbital (e.g. in aromatic molecules) under the influence of a magnetic field; ring dike, dyke Geol., a dike that is arcuate or roughly circular in plan, formed by upwelling of magma along ring fractures following cauldron subsidence of a circular block; ring doffer, a doffer covered with separate circles of filletting; ring-dogs (see quot.); ring-dollar, Austr., a Spanish dollar having a circular piece cut out of the centre; ring-drain, a drain enclosing a stretch of ground; ring dropper, a sharper who pretends to have found a dropped ring and offers to sell it; ring-dropping, the method of swindling practised by a ring-dropper; ring-eye, = ringle-eye; † ring-faller, = ring-dropper; ring-farm, a farm enclosed by a ring-fence; ring flash Photogr., a circular electronic flash tube that fits round the camera lens to give shadowless lighting of a subject near the lens; ring-fort Archæol., a fort or other position defended by ringed entrenchments; ring fracture Geol. [tr. G. kreisbrüche], a conical or nearly cylindrical fault associated with cauldron subsidence; ring-frame, a spinning machine in which the thread is wound by means of a traveller running on a horizontal ring; ring-furnace (see quot.); † ring-galliard, some manœuvre of the manege; ring gland Zool., a gland in dipteran larvæ which secretes ecdysone; ring-gold, an alloy of copper, silver, and gold; † ring-gristle, = ring-cartilage; † ring-head (see quots.); ring-hedge, = ring-fence; ring-horse, a horse for running at the ring (obs.); a horse trained to perform in a circus-ring; ring-hunt, a hunt in which the animals are driven inwards by a ring of fire; so ring-hunting; ring-joint, (a) a pipe-joint formed of circular flanges; (b) a form of joint in certain insects, esp. of the Hymenoptera; ring-junction, a road junction at which traffic is channelled in two directions round a central island, entering and leaving by smaller islands; ring-keeper, (a) a guard-ring, a device to keep a ring in place; (b) one who keeps the ring at a prize-fight; ring-key, a key fitted with a ring-handle, which falls down instead of standing out from the door; ring-kop S. Afr. [Afrikaans kop head], an African tribesman or warrior entitled to wear a head-ring (see head n. 66); ring-lock, a lock in which a number of grooved rings must be adjusted before the bolt can be drawn (Knight); ring-mail (see sense 2 and mail n.1); ring main, (a) an electric main that starts from and returns to a particular power station or sub-station, so that each consumer has an alternative path for supply in the event of a failure; also = ring circuit (b) above; (b) Plumbing, an arrangement of pipes forming a closed loop into which steam, water, or sewage may be fed and whose points of draw-off are supplied by flow from two directions; ring modulator Electronics, a circuit that incorporates a closed loop of four diodes and can be used for balanced mixing and modulation of signals; ring-money, annular or penannular pieces of metal now or formerly used as money; also = manilla1; ring oiling, a method of automatic lubrication of bearings in which a ring rests upon and turns with the journal and also dips into a reservoir containing the lubricant; so ring-oiled ppl. a.; ring oiler; ring-opener, a seal on a tin container which is broken by pulling a ring attached to it; ring-pen, a voussoir of an arch; † ring-pigger, a drunkard; ring-plate, (a) a plate with a ring attached for supporting a pipe (Knight); (b) an iron plate underlying a door-ring; ring-play U.S., a circular dance movement accompanied by song; ring-pored, -porous adjs. Forestry, applied to woods in which the large pores produced in spring form partial or complete rings; cf. diffuse-porous adj. s.v. diffuse a. 2 f; hence ring porosity, -porousness; ring-post, a post used in the construction of scaffolding; ring-pull a., designating a tin container fitted with a ring-opener; † ring-rathe (cf. rathe n.2); ring-rope, (a) Naut. (see quots.); (b) usu. pl., = rope n.1 2 c; ring rot [tr. G. bakterienringfäule (A. Spieckermann 1914, in Landwirtsch. Jahrb. XLVI v. 660)], a bacterial disease of the potato, affecting the tubers, caused by Corynebacterium sepedonicum; ring scaler Electronics = ring counter above; ring-seat = ringside seat s.v. ringside b; ring shake Forestry, a partial or complete separation of two or more consecutive growth rings in a tree; = cup-shake; so ring-shaken a.; ring-shell, -shot, a projectile in which the body is made of iron rings; a segment-shell; ring-shout U.S., a religious dance consisting of loud singing and circular movement; ring-sight Mil. (see quot. 1973); ring-snaffle, a form of bridle-bit with rings at each end; ring-song, a choral dancing-song; ring spanner, a spanner in which the jaws are in the form of a ring with internal serrations, which fit completely around the nut and put pressure on all its faces; ring-spindle, the form of spindle used in a ring-frame; ring spinning, spinning done with a ring-frame; ring-splice (see quot.); ringspot, ring spot, (a) any of several plant diseases characterized by annular spots or marks on the leaves; (b) an annular mark on a plant or animal; so ring-spotted a.; ring-stand, (a) a small stand for finger-rings; (b) a stand of circular form; ring-staple, ? a staple with a circular head; ring-stopper, = cathead-stopper; ring-taw, a game with marbles which are put in a ring and played at; ring-time, a time of giving or exchanging rings (nonce-use); ring-toss, U.S., deck-quoits; ring velvet, velvet so fine that a width of it can be drawn through a ring; ring-watch (see quot. 1962); ring winding Electr., a form of armature winding in which each turn of the winding passes through the centre of the hollow armature core (cf. gram2); † ring-wood, wood for making the rims of wheels; ring-work, (a) a circular entrenchment; (b) work executed with rings; (c) performance in the boxing-ring; ring-worm U.S. slang (see quot. 1929); ring-yarn, yarn produced by ring-spinning.
1893*Ring armature [see gram2]. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia VI. 610/1 The ring armature..enormously improved the efficiency of early electric generators.
1834Penny Cycl. II. 369 The *ring-armour of the Bayeux tapestry forms..breeches and jacket at the same time.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 252 The *ring-bayonet was introduced in 1693, and the socket-bayonet in 1703.
1924Times Trade & Engin. Suppl. 29 Nov. 247/1 *Ring beams are now worse off in margin by 1d. per lb. compared with a month or six weeks ago.
1929A. J. Vaughan Mod. Bookbinding ii. 136 The *ring binders. These employ rings which may be opened or closed, the paper being pierced with round holes. 1977New Yorker 27 June 30/1 Forced into proximity as we were by ledgers, ring binders, and jars of mucilage.
1977P. D. James Death of Expert Witness ii. v. 80 A quarto-sized loose-leaf notebook with a *ring binding.
1923H. A. Maddox Dict. Stationery Terms 67 *Ring books, loose-leaf books arranged on the principle of split or hinged rings, which by a finger lever motion open to receive the leaves punched to fit the rings. 1942H. A. Maddox Dict. Stationery 94 Ring book. 1965P. Wylie They both were Naked i. iv. 149 My second address was neatly arranged in a ring-book.
1858Greener Gunnery 295 The chance is that the barrel is *ring-bored, as it is termed.
1957V. G. Childe Dawn European Civilization (ed. 6) xi. 204 From Sweden to Siberia..all pots were manufactured by the same technique of *ring-building. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts i. 26 Ring⁓building... The walls of the vessel are formed by the addition of sausage-shaped rolls of clay of various lengths.
1963E. M. Jope in Foster & Alcock Culture & Environment xiii. 337 In the tenth to twelfth centuries, the distinctive bar-lip style of pottery, flat-based and coil- or *ring-built, rooted firmly in the simplest techniques of prehistoric pottery-making. 1964H. Hodges Artifacts i. 29 Much early pottery that has been described as wheel-thrown was probably initially ring-built and only finally given its form on a rotating wheel.
1881Encycl. Brit. XII. 550 The peripheral portion of the lumen of the original enteric cavity forms the *ring-canal.
1598Shakes. All's Well iii. v. 95 Mar. Looke he has spyed vs. Wid. Marrie hang you. Mar. And your curtesie, for a *ring-carrier.
1690tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. 170 Circoides,..Angl. *Ring cartilage vel gristle. 1859Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 261/1 Another order of elastic tissue lies between the ring-cartilages, tying them together cylindrically.
1561J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 11 Ther is another kinde of these *Ring choppers, which commonly cary about them a faire gold ring [etc.].
1842Francis Dict. Arts, *Ring Chuck, a very useful chuck for many purposes, and one which is easily made.
1931Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXXII. 306 The simplified ‘chain’ arrangement of thyratrons, from which the more useful ‘*ring’ circuits..were developed. 1946Rev. Sci. Instruments XVII. 185/2 The two pentodes of each trigger pair form opposite partners in the ring circuit. 1961B. Pym No Fond Return of Love xxiv. 236 Her loud clear tones were addressed to the London Electricity Board, and the conversation seemed to be about power plugs and something called a ‘ring circuit’. 1962N. D. Watts in G. A. T. Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. xviii. 10 Fig. 11 shows a ring circuit in which the primer electrodes are omitted for simplicity. 1963Times 6 May (Electric Power Suppl.) p. vii/3 Complete interchangeability at multiple points throughout the house is achieved by the ‘ring circuit’. 1974A. Douglas Noah's Ark Murders viii. 75, I thought lighting these days was on ring circuits—surely one burned-out fuse shouldn't mean total failure?
1662Ray Three Itin. iii. 176 In this country they dig two sorts of coals, the one they call stone coal, not fit for smiths; the other *ring coal, which is fit for their use.
1702Petiver Gazophyl. i. §5 Folliculena seu Folliculum Phalenæ ovale,..the *Ring-Coffin.
1916E. B. Bailey et al. Geol. Ben Nevis & Glen Coe viii. 109 The fault serves as the inner boundary of the *ring-complex known as the Fault-Intrusion. 1965A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) xi. 261 Intrusions in the form of concentric arcs or rings are of two distinct types, forming ring complexes such as are exceptionally well developed around the Tertiary volcanic centres of NW Britain. 1976Nature 23 Sept. 307/1 The duration of about 5 Myr for the igneous activities in this ring complex is especially informative in terms of the formation of one complete ring complex.
1942W. B. Lewis Electr. Counting viii. 90 A thyratron *ring counter which could have any number of thyratrons arranged in a ring with an arc in one of them. 1969J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching viii. 195 If the outputs of the last flip-flop..are connected back to the inputs of the first flip-flop than a Ring Counter is formed. 1971J. H. Smith Digital Logic vi. 121 Ring counters, which were used for many years using gas filled trigger valves, will give a count related to the number of stages. If there are n stages the counter will count to 2n.
1896Doyle Rodney Stone xi, It was at such a moment that *ringcraft was needed, and..two masters of it were at his back. 1900― Green Flag iv. 125 A hard veteran, full of cool valour and ring-craft, could give ten or fifteen years and a beating to most striplings. 1922Joyce Ulysses 313 Handicapped as he was by lack of poundage, Dublin's pet lamb made up for it by superlative skill in ringcraft. 1957A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia xii. 136 As for the lidia, the general ringcraft, he [sc. Belmonte] admits he knew nothing of it and cared less. 1976Daily Record (Glasgow) 29 Nov., Len Harvey, one of the greatest exponents of ringcraft British boxing has produced, died at his London home yesterday.
1849Greenwell Coal-trade T. (1851) 19 A *ring crib may be made of metal or oak, of the same size as a wedging crib. It is open at the top, for the purpose of collecting water, which would otherwise fall down the pit. 1869― Mine Engin. 179 The ring crib consists of cribs which are..walled in with the walling in the shaft [etc.].
1882Worsaae Industrial Arts Denmark 33 Carved *ring-crosses, under which form many other peoples..have constantly represented the sun. 1893S. O. Addy Hall of Waltheof 93 Ring-crosses may be seen carved upon the lids of many ancient stone coffins.
1961Amateur Gardening 4 Nov. Suppl. 42/2 *Ring culture. In recent years the growing of certain plants, chiefly tomatoes, in bottomless containers has come into vogue. 1962H. G. W. Fogg Chrysanthemum Growing ix. 60 Ring culture, a term which was, I believe, first used as a result of experiments, at Tilgate Horticultural Research Station. 1964,1976Ring culture [see sense 3 i above].
[1933Terrestrial Magn. XVIII. 82 Whether the latter [current] will close upon itself so as to become an isolated current-ring. ]1941Ibid. XLVI. 1 In our theory of geomagnetic storms, we attribute the main phase to a hypothetical electric *ring-current. 1956Proc. R. Soc. A. CCXXXVI. 522 To find the effect of the ring current on the proton resonance line we have to average over orientations. 1962F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics iv. 164 The ring current system probably consists of low energy particles and is able to effectively disturb the terrestrial magnetic field... It is estimated that a current flow of 1,000,000 amp exists. 1966Williams & Fleming Spectrosc. Methods Org. Chem. iv. 88 Protons attached to systems which can sustain a ring current suffer a paramagnetic shift relative to olefinic protons of isolated double bonds. 1976Jrnl. Geophysical Res. LXXXI. 2701/1 The decay of the proton ring current by charge exchange loss.
1915Summary of Progr. Geol. Survey 1914 The Loch Bà felsite is the most perfect example of a ring-boss, or *ring-dyke, anywhere known. 1931Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CCXXII. 145 The ring-dike is found between the granite frame and the volcanics of the mountains wherever bed rock is exposed. 1976Nature 23 Sept. 307/1 The 7·6 {pm} 0·2 Myr isochron..combines various samples from the three inner distinct ring dykes..made up of alkaline granites and quartz syenites.
1884W. S. B. McLaren Spinning (ed. 2) 222 Though this is the main feature of the *ring doffer, it is divided into several varieties.
1846A. Young Naut. Dict. s.v. Dog, If connected by a ring going through the eyes, they are called *ring-dogs. Both..kinds of dogs are used for lifting timber.
1870T. H. Braim New Homes III. 131 The rest of the dollar, called from the circular piece taken out a ‘*ring-dollar’, was valued at four shillings.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 394 A *ring-drain, serving the purpose of a fence, is thrown round the moss at the line where the rising ground commences.
1797Sporting Mag. IX. 315 Low gamblers, *ring droppers, sharpers and thieves of every description. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxxvii, Tom's evil genius did not..mark him out as the prey of ring-droppers, pea and thimble-riggers,..or any of those bloodless sharpers.
1825Southey in Q. Rev. XXXI. 388 A trick which is as stale as the *ring-dropping of a London sharper. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 351/2 The ring-dropping ‘lurk’ is now carried on this way, for the old style is ‘coopered’.
1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5825/4 Stolen.., one bright bay Nag,..a *Ring Eye on the near Side.
1561J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 10 A *Ryng faller is he that getteth fayre copper rings,..and walketh vp and down the streetes.., and letteth fall one of these ringes [etc.].
1886York Herald 7 Aug. 1/3 The Farm is a ‘*Ring Farm’, and most conveniently situated for Road or Rail.
1969L. Gaunt Commonsense Photogr. xiii. 218 There are special *ring flash units which fit round the lens and give even, almost shadow-free lighting. 1975G. Skoglund Colour in your Camera (ed. 6) 144 Shadowless ‘multi-directed’ lighting, can be produced by a piece of equipment known as a ‘ring-flash’. 1978SLR Camera Aug. 45/2 To my knowledge it is the only 100mm lens which has a built-in ring flash that will continuously focus from 1/15 down to life size.
1935Discovery Apr. 102/1 *Ring-forts of earth or stone represent one of the most common kinds of monuments of antiquity throughout Ireland. 1937Proc. Prehist. Soc. III. 407 It is hardly justifiable to class ring-forts as fortified sites; they were ordinary farmsteads with a natural measure of protection, and assumed the character of a fortified settlement only if the site was very large. 1960S. Cruden Scottish Abbeys 21 The massive circular stone wall of the ‘ring-fort’, of late Iron Age or Dark Age date. 1976Country Life 6 May 1163/1 Ring forts..are common all over Ireland.
1919Geol. Mag. LVI. 469 In some ways the most interesting feature of Old Iceland is the *ring-fracture system (Kreisbrüche) of the north-west peninsula. 1924E. B. Bailey et al. Tertiary & Post-Tertiary Geol. Mull, Loch Aline, & Oban i. 7 It was in Iceland that the word ring-fracture (Kreisbrüche) was introduced by Thoroddsen. 1965A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) xi. 261 The ring dyke..represents the case where the weight of the keystone..has produced the ring fractures within which subsidence—often referred to as cauldron subsidence—has taken place.
1884W. S. B. McLaren Spinning 166 The latest development of throstle spinning is the *ring⁓frame, which is now superseding the flyer frame entirely in the cotton trade.
1860Tomlinson Cycl. Arts & Manuf. Ser. ii. Iron & Steel 27 A *ring-furnace was constructed; that is, a central core of solid brickwork was formed, round which was built a fireplace and hearth.
1612Webster White Devil iv. iii, A resty Barbary horse Which he would fain have brought to the career, The sault, and the *Ring⁓galliard.
1937E. Hadorn in Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XXIII. 481 Since it has been shown that the ring has a glandular function, the term ‘*ring-gland’ may be used so long as no homology to other structures in other insects has been established. Ibid. 484 Puparium-formation can be accelerated by transplantation of a normal ring-gland to lethal larvae. 1978Molecular & Gen. Genetics CLXIV. 79/2 The ring gland donors were at the late larval stage by which ecdysone production was likely to have begun.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 714 *Ring⁓gold, 6 dwts. 12 grs. Spanish copper [etc.].
1615Crooke Body of Man 637 The second and lower gristle is called κρικοειδὴς, the *Ring-gristle.
1601Act 43 Eliz. c. 10 §2 That no persone..shall have, keepe, or use any manner of Wrinche, *Ringehead, Growme, Rope, or other Engine to stretche or straine any roughe and unwroughte Woollen Clothe. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 345/1 The Ground and Timber is the Floor of the Ship, and are call'd the Ring-heads.
1607J. Davies (Heref.) Summa Totalis Wks. (Grosart) I. 11/2 Lo how Apollas Pegasses prepare To rend the *ring-hedge of our Horizon. 1775Ash, Ringhedge, a hedge that encompasses several inclosures.
1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Invent. Index p. viii, An artificiall *Ring-horse. 1861Windsor Express 5 Oct., The sale comprised 45 trick and ring horses.
1799J. Smith Remark. Occurr. (1870) 85 We met with some Ottawa hunters, and agreed with them to take, what they call a *ring hunt, in partnership... This put an end to our *ring hunting this season.
1972Guardian 26 June 1/3 In this new *ring junction traffic turning right goes between the island in the centre and the off-side mini-roundabout. 1973Daily Tel. 3 Aug. 17/1 The experimental ‘ring junction’ to ease traffic congestion at the Plough roundabout..may be made permanent by winter.
1912Chambers's Jrnl. 394/1 He organized a body of ‘*ring-keepers’ to preserve order as far as possible. 1922Joyce Ulysses 510 The virgins..burst through the ring-keepers and the ropes and mob him with open arms.
1853R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 37 Having produced the *ring-key from his pocket, Mr. Leather opened the [stable] door.
1835*Ring-kop [see sense 9 i above]. 1910J. Buchan Prester John viii. 149 In such a man one would have looked for a ring-kop, but instead he had a mass of hair..long and curled like some popular musician. 1935Brit. S. Afr. Ann. 35 Our principal native warrior, an old ‘ringkop’, promptly took up his quarters in a friendly tree.
1856G. Price Treat. Fire & Thief-Proof Depositories & Locks & Keys xiv. 205 Two centuries ago the puzzle-lock attracted far more attention than any other... The chief among them are *ring-locks. 1868A. C. Hobbs Constr. Locks iii. 17 According to the kind of handle employed, it [sc. the room-lock] may be a knob lock or a ring lock. 1965G. McInnes Road to Gundagai ix. 137, I..ambled gently down the drive toward the ringlock gate.
1824Meyrick Armour I. 181 An arm of *ring mail. Ibid., A housing of ring-mail half riveted. 1885C. J. Lyall Anc. Arab. Poet. 31 The ring-mail set close and firm.
1892J. A. Fleming Alternate Current Transformer II. ii. 207 (caption) The Metropolitan Company's system of *ring mains. 1901F. B. Crocker Electric Lighting II. 505 (Index), Ring mains. 1904Electr. World & Engineer 27 Feb. 396/2 The four batteries of boilers constituting each section of the boiler plant are interconnected by a 10-in. main and a 4-in. auxiliary line, both in the form of a ring main... With the location of the valves adopted in the event of rupture of any section of a ring main the trouble may be localised by shutting off the disabled section, the remaining half of the main being kept in service. 1930Engineering 17 Jan. 92/1 In the near future it would probably be necessary to connect these lines by ring mains. 1945Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLIX. 529/1 It is avoided in the larger warships by the spread of the ring main (all below armour) which is admitted as not feasible in aircraft. 1959Goodin & Downing Domestic Sanitation iv. 97 The use of ring mains tends to reduce the size of pipes which must be used and are [sic] of great value in maintaining supplies when bursts occur. 1962Which? Mar. 82/1 You will also need a convenient electric power point. Having a new one installed—especially in an older house where there is no ring main—may mean a lot of new wiring. 1962Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 202 Ring mains offer the possibility of a firm supply at all times, but the cost of the complicated protective gear..makes such schemes justifiable only in cases where no loss of supply can be tolerated. 1976G. Moffat Short Time to Live vi. 53 He'd..modernise the place: put in a ring main, dig drains, build a septic tank.
1938Nippon Electr. Commun. Engin. Apr. 118/2 Although there are many considerations when it comes to the connecting method of rectifiers in the various carrier suppressed modulators, one of the most effective is that of the so-called *Ring modulator. 1974Harvey & Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. ii. 17 Another way of generating sidebands without the carrier appearing in the output is to employ a ring modulator. 1974Down Beat 18 July 42/2 The ring modulator adds both upper and lower sidebands of sound to the original tone. These modulated outputs will be the sum of and the difference between the frequencies of the original tone and an internal sine wave or external source.
1759B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 269 A great quantity of Roman Coins..; those of Silver were *Ring-money of diverse Sizes. 1853H. N. Humphreys Coin Collector's Man. I. 8 note, A modern ring-money is still in circulation in some parts of Northern Africa.
1920J. R. Battle Handbk. Industr. Oil Engin. vii. 421 There have been cases where hot running, *ring-oiled bearings have been made to run cool. 1930Engineering 11 July 39/3 The outer end of the crankshaft is supported by a ring-oiled outboard bearing and pedestal. 1968J. J. O'Connor Stand. Handbk. Lubric. Engin. xxxv. 11 Lead babbitt..is frequently used as the bearing material for ring-oiled motors.
1962G. A. T. Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. xii. 11 *Ring oiler. 1970B. Pugh Pract. Lubric. viii. 164 Small [steam] turbines usually have the simplest arrangements for bearing lubrication, i.e. ring oilers or standard type lubricators. 1972R. C. Gunther Lubrication xi. 304 Ring oiler consists of a free metal ring that rides on the journal and carries oil from a reservoir located below the bearing.
1904Electr. Rev. 10 Sept. 410 The journal bearings are of the *ring-oiling, self-aligning type. 1920T. C. Thomsen Pract. Lubric. ix. 158 Ring oiling is employed largely on modern high-speed shafting bearings.
1974P. Cave Mama (new ed.) vii 46 Mama took a can of beer which was thrust towards her and ripped off the *ring opener. 1975G. V. Higgins City on Hill iii. 74 He..brought out two cans of beer... They stripped off the ring openers and drank. 1977H. Innes Big Footprints ii. iii. 187 Abe snapped the ring-opener of his [beer] can..and drank.
1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 202, 24 [lineal feet of] *Ringpens of archways to granary.
1570Levins Manip. 80 A *Ringpigger, potator, bibax.
1904Athenæum 9 Apr. 473/3 The ironwork on some of the doors is noteworthy; the central ring and *ringplate..is fairly frequent.
1935Bull. Folk-Song Soc. Northeast ix. 11 The movement, with upraised hands, is not dissimilar to that in certain types of *ring-play. 1942L. Parrish Slave Songs Georgia Sea Islands iv. 99 This ring-play varies in action wherever I see it done... The tune, however, always remains the same. 1972R. D. Abrahams in T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 222 The numerous songs, ring-play, and verbal routines in Tobagonian Bongo (wake), as performed by adults in the community.
1909P. T. Maw Pract. Forestry viii. 164 The so-called ‘*ring-pored’ trees—Oak, Ash, Elm, Spanish Chestnut, and Acacia. 1978A. Bernatzky Tree Ecol. & Preservation iv. 53 Fraxinus, Castanea, Quercus, and Robinia are ring-pored.
1940Bot. Gaz. CII. 115 *Ring porosity is restricted to..the North Temperate zone.
1902F. Roth First Bk. Forestry iii. 222 The *ring-porous woods, like oak, ash, chestnut. 1928[see diffuse a. 2 f]. 1956F. W. Jane Struct. Wood xi. 250 Very approximately,..the timber of a ring porous hardwood possesses maximum strength when its growth rings number between 6 and 10 to the inch. 1968G. Tsoumis Wood as Raw Material ii. 14 Growth rings are generally more distinct in ring-porous than in diffuse-porous woods.
1950Metcalfe & Chalk Anat. Dicotyledons I. p. xlvii, *Ring-porousness, or the development of a marked zone of larger vessels at the beginning of a growth ring, appears to be accompanied by an increase in the length of the complete vessels in the pore zone.
1901J. Black's Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 39 The position of an inclined piece to support the bearing of the tie-beam, and..that of a brace to sustain the top of the *ringposts.
1970Times 16 Feb. (Food in Britain Suppl.) p. iii/3 Easy opening devices are undergoing considerable development—and *ring-pull and zip-top cans are already available. 1973‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird vii. 89 Poor Jacko, who treated birds and ring-pull cans as one problem.
1538Nottingham Rec. III. 200 Unum wollenlome cum *ryngrathes.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), *Ring⁓ropes, short pieces of rope, tied occasionally to the ring⁓bolts of the deck, to fasten the cable more securely when the ship rides in a tempest. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Ring-Ropes, ropes rove through the ring of the anchor, to haul the cable through it. 1922Joyce Ulysses 313 The Santry boy was declared victor to the frenzied cheers of the public who broke through the ringropes and fairly mobbed him with delight. 1942J. Masefield Generation Risen 30 The seconds' faces Watch through the ring-ropes.
1920E. F. Smith Introd. Bacterial Dis. Plants iv. i. 474 Spieckermann's *ring rot of Potato. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 30 May 7/5 Even though potatoes ‘look nice’ they may harbor the dangerous ring-rot disease. 1974Z. Kiraly et al. Methods Plant Path. viii. 180 (caption) Processed plant extract of a ring-rot infected tuber.
1960Gloss. Atomic Terms (U.K. Atomic Energy Authority) 46 *Ring scaler. 1963B. Fozard Instrumentation Nucl. Reactors viii. 79 If the scheme of Fig. 8.4 is extended to form a ring scaler, all the indicating cathodes may be connected together.
1920*Ring-seat [see good a. C. 8]. 1929Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking iv. 134 The sportsman in him whispered that he was missing something good, for ring-seats to view which many men would have paid large sums.
1905Sci. Amer. Suppl. 25 Mar. 24433/1 *Ringshake..consists in a partial or entire separation of two consecutive annual rings, and appears on a cross section as one or more splits running concentrically around the log. 1938H. E. Desch Timber xi. 133 Serious splits are often called ‘shakes’... These are of several types, e.g., ring-shake where the separation follows a growth ring, star-shake where the ruptures radiate outward from the pith. 1968J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts 84 They used to ‘split the heart’..as this obviated what were known as ‘ring-shakes’.
1851J. Brown Forester (ed. 2) ii. 199, I have seldom seen one [chestnut] which had arrived at the age of fifty or sixty years, which was not *ring shaken in the heart-wood.
1899Daily News 20 Nov. 4/5 It was a *ring or segment shell.
1896Daily Chron. 8 Aug. 7/3 The guns opened fire with *ring shot and shrapnel at long range.
1931R. W. Gordon in A. T. Smythe et al. Carolina Low Country 199 One of the simplest forms [of shouts], known as the ‘*ring shout’, is apparently widespread. In this, the shouters form a circle and proceed around and around in a sort of slow processional, facing always in one direction. 1942L. Parrish Slave Songs Georgia Sea Islands iii. 54 Shouting appears to be of two types: Along the coast of Georgia and South Carolina the most popular form is the ring-shout. 1970P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 56 A ‘ring-shout’—a shuffling dance in counter-clockwise direction performed by a circle of worshippers which gradually intensified in tempo and collective excitement.
1940N. Monks Squadrons Up! viii. 213 The circular (*ring) sight for his eight machine-guns. 1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 133 Before he had judged range with his ring sight, now he had to estimate without it. 1973J. Quick Dict. Weapons 374/2 Ring sight, a sight, especially a gunsight, in the shape of a ring or concentric rings, through which aim is taken and range is estimated.
1856Lever Martins of Cro'M. 136 I'll have a *ring-snaffle put on him.
1513Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 193 Sum sang *ring sangis, dansis ledys, and rovndis.
1930Buck & Hickman Ltd. Gen. Catal. Tools & Supplies 285 *Ring spanners. 1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook x. 121/2 (caption) Adjusting brake shoe cams. Movement of the ring spanner..on the adjusting nut. 1973J. Leasor Host of Extras ix. 166, I unlocked the..tool box..and took out a roll of ring spanners.
1892Pall Mall G. 10 Nov. 5/2 As if a new form of *ring-spindle were under scrutiny.
1884W. S. B. McLaren Spinning 169 It is one of the advantages of *ring spinning, that an ordinary flyer frame can be converted into a ring without altering the spindles.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Ring Splice,..a loop made in a rope by splicing the end to the standing part.
[1906M. C. Cooke Fungoid Pests Cultivated Plants 50 The ringed brown spot (Septoria Chrysanthemi)..has apparently been confined to Italy.] 1923Salmon & Wormald in Jrnl. Min. Agric. XXX. 148 The diseased areas on the leaf first appear as brown spots... As the spots reach a diameter of 1/8 in. or so, the central dead portions drop out, leaving the characteristic perforations... The name ‘*ring-spot’ disease appears suitable to designate this form of injury which strikes the eye of the grower as he walks over the field. 1927Phytopathology XVII. 325 (caption) Ringspots in an early stage of development with margins of alternating zones of chlorotic and normal tissue. 1939Jrnl. Pomol. XVII. 27 Ring Spot, the common name accepted in this country for the disease [of lettuces] caused by the fungus mentioned [sc. Marssonina Panattoniana], has been widespread in temperate regions from an early date. 1964Phytopathology LIV. 702/1 No ringspot virus was detected in uninoculated primary leaves through the sixteenth day. 1971Country Life 18 Feb. 381/1 Ringspot, Mottle and Vein Mottle are only three of the viruses afflicting carnations. 1974Ibid. 28 Nov. 1648/1 In Scotland..members of this race [sc. large heath butterflies] differ from English specimens in having fewer ring-spots on the under-surface of the wings. 1980Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 8/3 There are some Cornish cauliflower types which have not been available for about 30 years which we think were resistant to a disease called ringspot.
1961R. W. Butcher Brit. Flora II. 762 Leaves broad, lanceolate, grey-green, *ring-spotted, flat and broadened from the base.
1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3298/4 One *Ring Stand ingraved with two Coats impaled. c1865Wylde's Circ. Sc. I. 144/1 He should also possess..a small ring-stand, for supporting..vessels in preparing solutions by heat. 1892Pall Mall G. 6 Oct. 1/3 Brushes and trays, ringstands and powder-boxes.
1782Phil. Trans. LXXII. 361 This conductor..was kept in its place near the wall in its passage down by *ring-staples driven into the wall.
1863A. Young Naut. Dict. (ed. 2), *Ring-stopper, the same as Cat-stopper. 1899F. T. Bullen Log of a Sea-waif 342 Telling the carpenter to get his maul ready for knocking out the ring-stopper of the anchor.
1828Lights & Shades II. 156, ‘I should like to play you a game at marbles.’ ‘Marbles! you mean *ring taw’. ‘Yes’. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) III. 134 I've noticed them, too, playing at ring-taw.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iii. 20 In the spring time, the onely pretty *ring time, When Birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding.
1871Sports & Games July 121 A new Game, *ring toss,..affords an attractive out-door sport, and furnishes a degree and kind of physical exercise that improves and develops the general health and strength. 1874St. Nicholas Jan. 171/2 There are many other games to be found in the shops..such as ‘Ring-toss’, ‘Magic Hoops’, and ‘Parlor Croquet’. 1884Cent. Mag. Jan. 359/1 Demurely watching a game of ring-toss.
1927Times 20 Oct. 17/4 The bride..wore a picture gown of white *ring velvet. 1931Daily Tel. 21 May 6/3 A green satin beauté gown..lined with green ring velvet. 1932G. Greene Stamboul Train ii. ii. 99 Could you get me five yards of ring velvet? 1952C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing vii. 232 Evening gown in mulberry ring velvet.
1939F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. Mar. (1964) 53 As it is a lavish gesture it should be a simple present..on the other angle from a *ring-watch. 1962E. Bruton Dict. Clocks & Watches 147 Ring watch, a watch mounted in a finger ring.
1892S. P. Thompson Dynamo-Electr. Machinery (ed. 4) xii. 309 (caption) Development of *ring winding for 4-pole machine. 1893[see drum-winding s.v. drum n.1 13]. 1922A. H. Avery Dynamo Design & Constr. ix. 122 The winding is electrically continuous, and progresses steadily forward round the armature just as with the ring winding.
1614in W. S. Gibson Tynemouth Priory (1846) II. 121 Spokes, Naves and *Ringwood for the said wheeles, cx.s.
1643Lanc. Tracts Civil War (Chetham Soc.) 167 In an orbe or *ringe-worke [they] cast up much earthe everye day by the multitude of countrey people forced to the service. 1855J. Hewitt Anc. Armour I. 63 The interior of the garment [hauberk]..exhibits the ring-work exactly in the same manner. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 425 Ring Work , an easy work used for forming mats and baskets, and made with small brass curtain rings, single Berlin wools and beads. 1899Daily News 12 Jan. 7/5 His ring work and generalship were so superior to his exhibition when he first came out that the improvement was almost incredible. 1963L. F. Chitty in Foster & Alcock Culture & Environment vii. 177 A ringwork beside the Knighton road may be medieval. 1975J. G. Evans Environment Early Man Brit. Isles vii. 164 Earthworks such as motte-and-bailey castles and ring-works preserve a buried soil and ditch sequence which can be used to extract environmental evidence.
1929Hostetter & Beesley It's a Racket! 236 *Ringworm, one who is a regular attendant upon prize fights and boxing matches. 1930Forum Dec. 373/2 Many of these words..are employed daily in our own sports pages. Even the most casual American ringworm will recognize these: knob, mugg, the one-two punch, [etc.]. 1954Sun (Baltimore) 30 Mar. 18/7 ‘Ring worms’, as some are in the habit of referring to fight fans, have a hot one coming up Friday night when Kid Gavilan takes a shot at Bobo Olson and his middleweight title.
1892J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning ix. 348 A method of winding *ring yarn on a cylindrical surface. 1909Westm. Gaz. 13 Aug. 8/4 A determined effort is being made by cotton-spinners in Lancashire who produce ring yarn to form an association to keep up prices.
b. In names of birds, reptiles, fishes, etc., as ringbarker Austral., a stick-insect, Podacanthus wilkinsoni, which in swarms devours the leaves of eucalypts; ring-bill, the ring-necked duck or moonbill; ring-billed († mew) gull, a New World gull, Larus delawarensis; ring-bird, a local name for the reed-bunting (Emberiza schœniclus); ring blackbird, = ringouzel; ring-bunting, = ring-bird; ring dotterel, = ring-plover; ring-eye, (a) an American fish (cf. red-eye); (b) Austr., a bird of the genus Zosterops (Morris); = silver-eye s.v. silver n. and a. 21 c; cf. white-eye s.v. white a. 12 e; ring-fowl, = ring-bird; ring parakeet, the ring-necked parakeet; ring perch, the yellow perch (Perca flavescens) of N. America; = ringed perch s.v. ringed ppl. a. 5; ring pheasant, the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus torquatus) of China; ring pigeon, = ring-dove; ring plover: see plover 2; ring-snake, (a) the common European grass- or ringed snake (Tropidonotus natrix); (b) U.S., a snake of the genus Diadophis, esp. Diadophis punctatus; ring-sparrow, the rock-sparrow (Petronia stulta); ring-thrush, = ring-ouzel.
1935K. C. McKeown Insect Wonders Austral. xviii. 149 Another fine stick-insect is found in the Walcha district, where it is popularly known as the ‘*Ringbarker’, because of the dying brown appearance of the trees after the insects have stripped them of their foliage. 1965Austral. Encycl. VIII. 295/2 Most phasmids are solitary in habit. One of the few gregarious forms, the ringbarker (Podacanthus wilkinsoni), sometimes appears in countless numbers in various districts of New South Wales, where it defoliates the eucalypts.
1831Swainson & Richardson Fauna Bor.-Amer. ii. 421 Larus zonorhynchus,..*Ring-billed Mew-Gull. 1834T. Nuttall Man. Ornithol. U.S. & Canada II. 300 Ring-billed Mew Gull... Sp. Charact.—Commissure of the stout ringed bill rather longer than the tarsus. 1844J. E. DeKay Zool. N.Y. ii. 309 The Common gull.., although called the Ring-billed Gull in the books, has received no other popular name than Brown Winter Gull. 1917T. G. Pearson Birds of Amer. I. 47/1 The California and Ring-billed Gulls generally nest together in big colonies on the inland lakes. 1975Behaviour LII. 143 Parent Ring-Billed Gulls are able to recognize their own chicks after about 7 to 9 days posthatching.
1837Macgillivray Brit. Birds I. 453 Black-headed Bunting,..*Ring-bird. Ring-Bunting.
1831Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict. 420 *Ring blackbird, this species is rather larger than the blackbird. 1870Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 531 The Ring Blackbird (Merula torquata) differs from the kind we have just noticed.
1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds I. 334 The *Ring Dotterel, Ring Plover, or Sea Lark. 1863Gould Iceland 404 Along the shore, flocks of wheeling Turnstones, Ring Dotterels and Dunlins attract attention.
1877Jordan in Smithson. Coll. XIII. i. 47 Good bait for Perch, Bass, Red⁓eyes or *Ring-eyes, &c. 1951J. Frame Lagoon 47 She was big and warm and knew about cats and little ring-eyes. 1953Landfall VII. 21 They caught a blackbird and two ring-eyes.
1840W. Macgillivray Brit. Ornith. I. 190 Emberiza Schœniclus, Reed-Bunting,..*Ring-fowl.
1811Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. 423 The size of the Alexandrine or *Ring Parrakeet is that of a common Pigeon. 1841Penny Cycl. XIX. 87/2 These Ring Parrakeets, as they are generally termed, are justly held in high estimation for the symmetry of their form.
1877C. Hallock Sportsman's Gazetteer 272 Yellow Perch; or *Ring Perch.—Perca flavescens. 1947J. H. Brown Outdoors Unlimited 233 ‘Ring’ perch, or yellow perch as they are more widely called, offer the earliest fishing in this part of the country.
1777G. Forster Voy. round World II. 567 We likewise saw several beautiful *ring-pheasants. 1783Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. i. 715 Ring Pheasant... This differs [from the Common Pheasant] in having a ring of pure white round the neck. 1831Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict. 424 Temminck says the one found in European preserves is a hybrid, between the common pheasant and the genuine Ring Pheasant..of China.
1768Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) I. 251 *Ring Pigeon. 1831Wilson, etc. Amer. Ornith. IV. 325 Ring pigeons... 1. High crowned ring pigeon. 2. Pine ring pigeon. 3. Flat crowned ring pigeon. 1870Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 424 This is evidence of the possibility of taming Ring⁓pigeons.
1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds I. 334 *Ring Plover. 1802Montagu Ornith. Dict. (1831) 141 The Ring Plover is a plentiful species in most parts of the known world. 1842Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 10. 4 A pair of the pretty little Ring-plover were observed by the President.
1796Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 219 *Ring Snake. a1817Dwight Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821) I. 55 The Ring-Snake is long, slender, and black, with a white ring round its neck. 1901Nature 31 Jan. 330/2 The species proved to be the common grass, or ring-snake.
1678Ray Willughby's Ornith. 250 The *Ring-Sparrow of Bellonius. 1783Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. i. 254 Ring Sparrow... This is bigger than the House Sparrow... Round the head, above the eyes, a ring of dirty white.
1792Pennant Arct. Zool. II. Index, Thrush, *ring. 1832Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. 5 Our..colleague..entertained some slight hopes of meeting with the ring-thrush (Turdus torquatus).
▸ A flat circular (or spiral-shaped) device, usually forming part of a cooker or hob, on which a pan or other vessel can be heated using gas, electricity, or oil. Cf. boiling ring n. at boiling n. Additions, gas-ring n. at gas n.1 Compounds 2, ring burner n. at Additions.
1914M. Lancaster Electric Cooking, Heating, & Cleaning 54 Attachments for use with the boiling ring include..many special devices, a second or extension ring being provided for use on the top of the oven. 1916Times 16 Oct. 6/3 (advt.) The Record ‘One Ring’ Cooker. Gas or oil. 1980R. Rendell Lake of Darkness i. 5 An electric ring. There was no plug on its lead..and the coiled element had some kind of black grease or oil on it. 1990Country Homes Oct. 147 Through heat retention the unique Multi-Server poaches fish off the hob, as well as cooking rice, pasta, noodles and vegetables, thus freeing cooker rings. 2002Star (Sheffield) (Nexis) 14 Jan. I moved the pan off the ring but couldn't find a towel to put over it.
▸ ring burner n. a gas ring, (now) esp. one on a cooker or hob.
1856Times 16 June 14/2 (advt.) Gas kettles with stand and gas *ring burner complete. 1885Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List Jan. 368 Gas stove.., lever taps to hot-plate, and extra simmering burner in centre of ring burner, with brass handle tap. 1906Lima (Ohio) Times-Democrat 17 Sept. 5 Center ring burner surrounding No. 3, fire wall, heats No. 4, or body, radiating heat into room. 2004Restaurant Hospitality (Nexis) June 102 It has a ring burner and top that are very hot in the center and cooler at the edges.
▪ II. ring, n.2|rɪŋ|
Also 6–7 ringe, 6 ryng.
[f. ring v.2]
1. A set or peal of (church) bells.
Very common in 17th–18th cent. Locally the name ring o' bells is given to the Wild Hyacinth, Scilla nutans (Britten and Holland).
1549Council's Let. in Prayer-Book Troubles (1884) 73 Levying in every churche one bell, the lest of the ryng that nowe is in the same. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 102/1 He prophaned the church of saint Patrikes in Downe,..and shipt the notable ring of bels that did hang in the steeple. 1633Gerard Descr. Somerset (1900) 197 A bell tower of a greate height furnished with a very good ring of 5 bells. 1668Pepys Diary 12 June, Here is also a very fine ring of six bells, and they mighty tuneable. 1716Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 349 The Church is very neat and handsome, and hath a Ring of eight very good Bells. 1794W. Combe Boydell's Thames I. 109 Here was a large and melodious ring of bells, which was considered as the best in England. 1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 77/2 The Bishop of London..presents them with a ring of bells and an organ. 1872Ellacombe Bells of Ch. in Ch. Bells Devon ix. 291 The Old Bells of York Cathedral. These bells were the first ring of twelve in the kingdom.
2. a. A ringing sound or noise.
1622Bacon Hen. VII 17 He..had the Ring of Acclamations fresh in his eares. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 29 He must come to the Ring of the Midnight Bell. 1789F. Burney Diary June, They set up such a shout as made a ring all around the village. 1830Chalmers Mem. (1851) III. xiv. 278 Delighted in the morning with the ring of Oxford bells. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. vii. 69 ‘Twang, twang!’ came a second report. I knew it was the whale⁓line by the shrillness of the ring. 1874Green Short Hist. vii. §4. 375 Mary Stuart..loved risk and adventure and the ring of arms.
b. A ringing tone or quality in the voice, or in a (recited) composition.
1859Green Lett. (1901) I. 28 The lines which..have got a ring of old Homer in them. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola ii. xxxii, Her voice had gradually risen till there was a ring of scorn in the last words. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. 267 We hear again the old ring of the lays of Brunanburh,..and of Stamfordbridge, as we listen to the tale. 1894S. Weyman Under Red Robe iv, She continued..with a certain ring of insistence in her tone.
c. The resonance of a coin or glass vessel by which its genuineness or wholeness is tested. Now freq. transf.
1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §12 The ring of a sovereign or of a shilling is a criterion of the genuineness of the coin. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Libr. (1892) I. iii. 108 A banker's clerk can tell a bad coin by its ring on the counter. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 360 As a glass is filliped to try its ring.
transf.1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iv. xxvii. 210 Truth, so to speak, has a certain ring by which it may be known. 1886Besant Childr. Gibeon i. vii, There does not seem always the right ring about him. 1957G. Ryle in C. A. Mace Brit. Philos. in Mid-Cent. 264 The word ‘analysis’ has..a good laboratory or Scotland Yard ring about it. 1973Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Sept. 1091/3 The ‘special relationship’ with Japan, using a phrase which will have an ironic and melancholy ring in British ears.
d. Electronics. A sequence of damped oscillations at the resonant frequency of a circuit; an individual oscillation in such a sequence.
1949Electronic Engin. XXI. 207/3 Thus the deliberate introduction of a ring into the response can be a means of improving the sharpness of the transition edges of the observed picture. 1971J. Earl How to choose & use Pickups & Loudspeakers iii. 87 (caption) This pulsed-tone shows only slight ‘ringing’... An insufficiently low value load could incite worse rings than this. 1975G. J. King Audio Handbk. ii. 43 No amplifier worthy of the hi-fi label should exhibit rings or overshoot into a load of pure resistance. Ibid. v. 122 Since the ring is very quickly damped, giving virtually an overshoot effect, this sort of performance is perfectly acceptable.
3. a. An act of ringing; a pull at a bell, esp. a doorbell; the sound thus produced. In recent use also with adverbs, as ring-back, ring-up.
1727Boyer Dict. Royal ii. s.v., Give it a ring, sonnez la cloche. 1760Baretti Ital. Dict. ii, To give the bell a ring, sonar il campanello. 1836Marryat Japhet xxxiii, A ring at the bell called Timothy downstairs. 1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 227 In reply to my ring, [I] was admitted by the actor himself. 1898J. K. Jerome Sec. Th. Idle Fellow 131 The ring-back recalls you. You seize the ear trumpet, and shout. 1899Westm. Gaz. 6 May 5/1 At 3.55,..according to the ring-up from the engine-room, he was four miles from the rocks.
b. An act of ringing a coin. (Cf. ring v.2 11 b.)
1894A. Robertson Nuggets 175 She was a false coin, which would not stand the test of a ring.
c. orig. with up. A call on a telephone. Also, each of a series of ringing sounds produced by a telephone receiving a call; to give (someone) a ring, to call by telephone. Cf. ring v.2 10 b.
1900[see hullo int.]. 1910Daily Chron. 26 Feb. 6/2 It is only that most modern of human summonings, a telephone ‘ring up’. 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement iv. 157 I'll just give the City Transport a ring to see if they've heard anything about that lot we sent to Norwich. 1934T. E. Lawrence Let. 14 Sept. (1938) 819 Give me a ring at Hythe and let us meet. 1948[see central n.]. 1951T. Sterling House without Door x. 109 The telephone rang... It went on ringing... She listened, anticipating each ring to the second. c1952A. Huxley Lett. (1969) 660 If you ever come into town, why don't you give me a ring? 1960[see book n. 5 d]. 1963V. Nabokov Gift ii. 137 There's no guarantee the room is not already disposed of, but still I would advise you to give her a ring. 1973‘M. Underwood’ Reward for Defector vi. 44 Give me a ring later this evening and let me know. 1976H. Nielsen Brink of Murder i. 9 He dialled his own number... Kevin..answered on the fourth ring.
d. Phr. the dead ring (of): see quot. 1916. Cf. ringer2 4. Austral. and N.Z. slang.
Possibly belongs under some other sense of the noun.
1916C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 124 The dead ring: a remarkable likeness. 1948D. W. Ballantyne Cunninghams i. xv. 81 They [sc. the sons] were the dead ring of Gil. 1951― in Landfall V. 166 A fine little chap. Dead ring of his old man, eh?
†4. Cant. (See quots.) Obs.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Ring, money extorted by Rogues on the High-way, or by Gentlemen Beggers. 1796Grose's Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), Ring, money procured by begging: beggars so called it from its ringing when thrown to them.
5. ring-in: a fraudulent substitution; the action of ‘ringing in’ (see ring v.2 13 b). Austral. slang.
[1924Truth (Sydney) 27 Apr. 6 Ring in, false.] 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 60 Ring-in, a horse or dog that is fraudulently entered in a contest under an assumed name and/or disguised. 1969C. Drummond Odds on Death vii. 152 The elderly book-makers..were his hosts... Past losses were debated... ‘A ring-in after all these years,’ had said a ruined giant of a man disgustedly. 1971Telegraph (Brisbane) 26 June 5/1 All these are checked against the dog, and the chances of a ‘ring-in’ are completely eliminated.
▪ III. ring, v.1|rɪŋ|
Pa. tense and pa. pple. ringed. Also 5–6 ryng(e; pa. tense and pa. pple. 6 roong, 7–9 rung.
[f. ring n.1 The leading senses are more or less represented by parallel formations in the cognate languages, as Fris. ringje, MDu. and Du. ringen, OHG. ringan, ringôn (G. ringen), ON. and Icel. hringa (Norw. and Sw. ringa, Da. ringe) and hringja (Fær. ringja, MSw. ringia). In OE. the comb. ymb-hringan, to surround, occurs frequently.]
I.
1. a. intr. To make a circle or ring; to gather in a ring about or round (a person). Now rare.
14..Sir Beues (C) 623 Let vs alle aboute him rynge, And harde strokys on hym dynge. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 235 b, Likewise the byllmen and these rynged and snayled, which was a goodly sight to beholde. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. Introd. 7 The rest which round about you ring..And doe adorne your Court.
1814W. Nicholson Peacock iii. Poet. Wks. (1897) 93 Then roun' him ring, and prance.., To gar folks trow ye raise the de'il. 1850Mrs. Browning Child Asleep v, We should see the spirits ringing Round thee, were the clouds away.
b. Of a hawk, etc.: To rise spirally in flight.
1879Encycl. Brit. IX. 7/2 A bird is said to ‘ring’ when it rises spirally in the air. 1889Pall Mall G. 20 Aug. 3/2 When flown at a rook, both birds at times ‘ring’ into the sky, the rook striving its utmost to keep above its pursuer.
c. Of a stag, fox, or hare: To take a circular course when hunted.
1882Daily News 21 Jan. 2/4 Then ringing about in the Winkfield, New Lodge, Fifield, and Bray districts, the quarry eventually fielded the pack towards the town of Maidenhead. 1892Field 26 Nov. 805/3 Once more she tries to ring away to her home, but hounds press her.
d. Austral. and S. Afr. Of cattle: To move round in a circle.
1868[implied in ringing vbl. n.1 4]. 1884‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Mem. 20 The cattle were uneasy and ‘ringed’ all night. 1888― Robbery under Arms v, After ‘ringing’ a bit, one of the quiet cows followed up the old mare. 1890― Colonial Reformer II. xviii. 111 A desultory entry into the receiving yard then takes place... The ‘ragers’ observing this movement keep wildly and excitedly ‘ringing’, like a first class Maëlstrom. 1928‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country x. 172 ‘Well, are you going to stay?’ ‘Can't, thank you. Our mob was ringing a bit when I left.’ 1941I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang vii. 56 The cattle began to ring, the centre beasts edged outwards, then turned inward and began to sniff, to paw the earth. 1947J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. x. 72 The [buffalo] herds ring to protect themselves against marauders in much the same way as the herds of domestic cattle do. 1959H. P. Tritton Time means Tucker 71 When they [sc. cattle] drift the only thing that can be done is try to turn them and get them circling, or ringing as the drover terms it.
2. a. trans. To surround, encompass, encircle. Also with round, about.
c1590Greene Fr. Bacon ii, The brazen walls fram'd by Semiramis..Shall not be such as rings the English strand. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. ii, True praise, the brow of common men doth ring. 1610J. Davies (Heref.) Commendatory Poems Wks. (Grosart) II. 5/1 King Arthurs..dayes (Whose radiant Knights did Ring his Table round).
1849M. Arnold Strayed Reveller, Round him..Flow the cool lake-waves: The mountains ring them. 1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan I. i. 29 A girdle of mist will ring the slopes, While the heights rise clear in the upper air.
b. In pa. pple. Surrounded, girt with something.
c1590Greene Fr. Bacon iv, Monarchs of the west Ring'd with the walls of old Oceanus. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iii, The verge of heaven Was ringd with flames. 1641W. Cartwright Lady Errant iii. ii, She Says she could court you ring'd about with dangers.
1814Southey Roderick xvii. 191 Ringed about with slaughtered foes. 1850J. S. Blackie æschylus I. 23 At her father's festive board, With gallant banqueters ringed cheerly round. 1878Stevenson Inland Voy. 84 Even this place..might on some future day be ringed about with cannon smoke and thunder.
c. To hem in (cattle or game) by riding or beating in a circle round them; to beat or stalk round (a stretch of country) for game.
1835W. Irving Tour Prairies xxv, To..try our hand at the grand hunting manœuvre, which is called ringing the wild horse. 1874Ranken Dom. Australia vi. 111 They are generally ‘ringed’, that is, their gallop is directed into a circular course by the men surrounding them. 1893Blackw. Mag. 279 There are bears to be ringed and elks to be stalked. Ibid. 280 Orders arrive to enlist a force of beaters which will ‘ring’ a vast extent of country.
d. To hem or shut in.
1871Pall Mall G. 7 Feb. 12 The final campaign in Baden, when the revolt was ringed in and stamped out by the converging advance of the Prussians. 1885Rider Haggard K. Solomon's Mines vii, This expanse appeared to be ringed in by a wall of distant mountains.
3. a. To place or fasten round something in the form of a ring.
1799Southey The Pig, Amoretta's hair Rings round her lover's soul the chains of love. 1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound 83 Ring amain the iron round his legs!
b. refl. To coil up in a ring.
1864Atkinson Stanton Grange 219, I seed a grass-snake..come out, and ring itself up i' t' sun.
c. Quoits. (See quot.)
1866Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 68/2 Professional players..can very frequently ‘ring’ their quoit—that is, land it so that the quoit surrounds the hob.
4. = lunge v.2 1. rare—1.
1834M. Edgeworth Helen vi, She caught a glimpse through the glass door opening on the park, of the general, and a fine horse they were ringing.
II.
5. a. To adorn (the fingers or nose) with a ring or rings. rare. (Cf. ringed ppl. a. 2 b.)
1552Huloet, Rynge, or put on a rynge, Anulo. 1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 31, I will..ring these fingers with thy houshold wormes. 1609W. M. Man in Moone (1857) 102 His gloves are thrust under his girdle, that you may see how he rings his fingers, blesse his worship. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 337 Supposing them most courtly who..ring their snouts with Jewels of Silver, Brass, or Ivory.
b. To invest (a woman) with an engagement or wedding ring. rare.
1823New Monthly Mag. VIII. 496 I'll set about a lusty courtship of her at once, and if I do not ferk you out of all likelihood of ringing the beauty, why mandamus me! 1859E. Capern Ball. & Songs 66 The bridegroom..Waits with the pledge of married love To ring the peerless bride.
c. To attach with a ring. rare—1.
1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Oct. 24 From either ear, ring'd to its pierced lobe A triple jewel hung.
6. a. To put a ring in the nose of (swine or cattle) to restrain them from rooting or violence.
1519Surtees Misc. (1890) 32 Item yt the swyn be rynged be Saynt Elene day. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 32 Let hogs be roong, both old and yoong. Ibid. 41 For rooting of pasture ring hog ye had neede. 1631Byfield Doctr. Sabb. 100 He intended to pegge or ring an hog. 1692in G. Sheldon Hist. Deerfield, Mass. (1895) I. 267 The hogg ringers shall have 6d p[e]r head for every hog tha[y] ring. 1708Ibid. 363 Any that shall neglect to ring their own swine, thay shall be forthwith rung by ye hog ringer. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 6 Feb. 1775, Rung the riotous ox. 1792J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 145 During the summer, they [swine] are either fed on the waste of the dairy and kitchen, or ringed and turned into fields of clover. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm. III. 829 A useful instrument for leading a bull by occasionally, when he has not been ringed,..is what is named the bullock-holder. 1890Amphlett Hist. Clent 105 Pigs were numerous; their owners had to ring them when four months old.
fig.1630Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 127 She praies you to ring him by this token, and so you shall be sure his nose will not be rooting other mens pastures. 1681S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 87 His majesty, with⁓out all doubt, Should only ring them in the snout. 1755World No. 150 The wife, when she found she was to be rung, very wisely made a virtue of necessity, and added jewels to the ring. c1800Boswell Poet. Wks. (1871) 202 Then let the viper hide his sting, The reptile, if he ramp, we'll ring.
b. to ring the bull, to play at a game consisting in throwing or swinging a ring on to a hook fixed upon a wall or a target. Hence ring(ing)-the-bull as the name of the game.
1838D. Jerrold Men of Character (1851) 273 After that, he must visit the gypsies; then he must ring-the-bull. Ibid. 276 There is first the lucky-bag—then the sticks—then the ringing-the-bull—then the round-about. 1868N. & Q. 4th Ser. I. 89 The game..is or was common in the ale-houses of Cheshire, and is called Ring-the-Bull.
c. To put a numbered ring on the leg of (a bird) so that it may be identified subsequently; to treat (a bat) similarly.
1908Brit. Birds I. 327 A large number of birds of various species are ringed each year at Rossitten on the Baltic. 1925Turner & Gurney Bk. about Birds vii. 72 When he escaped from the Sudan long after, he was able to tell those who ringed the bird that it had been found in Omdurman. 1958Listener 30 Oct. 684/2 We have now ringed nearly 3,000 bats. 1971Daily Tel. 22 June 8/4 A tufted duck, ringed in Essex two years ago by the British Trust for Ornithology, has been found in West Pakistan, where it was shot by a hunter in Rawalpindi. 1978P. Conder RSPB Guide to Birdwatching 102 Many ringers, particularly those working on a population of a particular area, ring nestlings.
†7. To affix rings to (a mare) in such a way as to prevent covering. Obs.
1611Cotgr., Boucler,..to ring a mare, thereby to keepe her from the horse. 1668Lond. Gaz. No. 303/4 A little Bay Mare.., short tailed and ringed, part of the rings broken. a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxxvi. 300 They use to ring Mares.., to keep them from being sallied by Stoned Horses. 1712Lond. Gaz. No. 5056/3 A bright bay Mare,..Ring'd, but lost one, so that she has but two.
†8.
a. to ring the mill: (see quot. 1808). Sc.
1808Jamieson s.v., To fill these [crevices round the mill-stone] with the first grain that is ground, after the stones are picked, is called ringing the mill. 1814Abstract conc. Mill Inveramsy 2 (Jam.), The tenants ringing the mill to themselves, and carrying away the same ring with them.
b. To provide (a wheel) with an iron tire. (Still in dial. use.)
1829Sporting Mag. XXIII. 388 Neither are the felloes of the wheels of several of the wagons rung with iron as ours are.
9. a. To mark (trees) with a ring of colour.
1742MS. Agreement (co. Derby), Trees marked or rung about with red.
b. To deprive (trees) of a ring of bark, in order to check too luxuriant growth and bring into bearing, or to kill them.
1800J. Headrick Com. to Board Agric. II. 257 They begin with ringing the trees, that is, cutting a ring of bark from their stems a little above the ground. This checks their growth, and renders the wood more firm and valuable. 1857Henfrey Bot. 562 Ringing fruit-trees in this way causes a temporary increase of product of fruit above the wound. 1885Mrs. C. Praed Head Station i, Gaunt trunks of trees which had been ‘rung’, and allowed to die slowly.
c. dial. (See quot.)
1881Oxfordsh. Gloss. Suppl. s.v., To ring fruit trees is to dig round them, cutting the long roots in two, and putting in manure.
10. To cut into annular slices or rounds.
1839Mag. Domest. Econ. IV. 174 The onions, being cut in slices and ringed, are put into the frying-pan. 1891Daily News 27 Aug. 3/2 Why could we not in England core, peel, ring, and dry apples in such years for a winter sale?
11. Austral. slang. To beat (a shedful of men) at sheep-shearing. Also transf. Cf. ringer1 5 a.
1895A. B. Paterson Man from Snowy River (1896) 136 The man that ‘rung’ the Tubbo shed is not the ringer here, That stripling from the Cooma side can teach him how to shear. 1899‘S. Rudd’ On our Selection 84 He shore..at Welltown, and rung the shed by half a sheep. 1905in A. B. Paterson Old Bush Songs 27 And once I rung Cudjingie shed, and blued it in a week. 1957D. Niland Call me when Cross turns Over v. 132 He would take on anything, wheat-lumping, tree-felling, shearing—always ringing the shed—droving, anything at all that suited him. 1967Telegraph (Brisbane) 25 Mar. 2/5 To ‘ring the shed’ a shearer's cook has to earn more money than the top shearer.
12. To draw a circle round (something printed) so as to focus attention on it.
1970R. K. Kent Lang. Journalism 113 Ring, to draw a circle around; encircle, as to signify various directions in copy editing. 1981Times 23 June 2/2 She [sc. the Prime Minister] has probably already ringed a date in the autumn of 1983 for the election.
▪ IV. ring, v.2|rɪŋ|
Pa. tense rang, rung. Pa. pple. rung.
[OE. hringan, = ON. and Icel. hringja (Norw. and Fær. ringja, Sw. ringa, Da. ringe), G. ringen (rare), perh. of imitative origin. Properly a weak vb., the strong forms (which appear very early) being prob. due to the influence of sing.]
A. Inflexional forms.
1. inf. (and pres.) 1 hrin(c)gan, 3–4 (7 arch.) ringen (4 ryngen, 5 -yn); 3–7 ringe, 4–7 ryng(e, 4 ryngg, 4–5 reng, 3– ring (8 wring).
c960æthelwold Rule St. Benet (Schröer, 1885) 72 Þæt mon ealle tida..hrincge. c1000Salomon & Saturn 534 (Kemble), His searo hringeð. c1200Ormin 901 Godd..wollde..Þa belless herenn ringenn. a1300Havelok 242 Belles deden he sone ringen. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptist) 888 Scho gert in haste þe bellis rynge. a1400–50Alexander 1385 All þe toun rengis [v.r. ringes]. c1440Promp. Parv. 434/2 Ryngyn bellys, pulso. 1599Shakes. Much Ado v. ii. 81 No longer..then the Bels ring. 1614J. Davies (Heref.) Commendatory Poems Wks. (Grosart) II. 20/1 Fro their case thy shrill pipes draw, And make the welkin ringen. 1716Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 217 He..set the Bells wringing for Joy.
2. pa. tense.
a. pl. 1 hringdon, 2 ringden, 3 ringeden; 8 ringed, 9 dial. hringed.
Beowulf 327 Buᵹon þa to bence, byrnan hringdon. c1131O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1131, Þa muneces..ringden þa belle. c1205Lay. 24486 Bellen þer ringeden. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 477 Then they..put out the Candle, and ringed the Bell. 1889M. G. Tuttiett Reproach of Annesley i. v, I hringed's grandfather out,..hringed 'em out mezelf.
b. (α) 3–6 rong, 4–5 ronge; also pl. 3–6 rongen.
c1275Lay. 24486 Belles þar rongen. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11215 A clerc þe commun belle rong. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12374 Þe hilles alle aboute ronge. c1380St. Augustine 1642 in Hortsm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 89/2 Men rongen þo þreo peles long. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3810 Þe sexstens rong..þe belle. c1450Earl Tolous 319 When they ronge to the masse. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlvi. 19 Quhill rong the widdis of hir melody. 1515Scottish Field 566 in Chetham Misc. (1856), All the dales rongen. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 62 Through the hous it rong.
(β) 3– rang, 4–6 range.
a1300Cursor M. 15040 All þe cite rang [v.r. range]. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 472 Men rang to þe resurreccioun. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xii. 432 Alle the forest range of the noyse. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cliv. 590 The bellis range to matens. a1656Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 37 Pulpits everywhere rang of these opinions. 1685Wood Life 21 Nov., Magd. Coll. bell rang out. 1784Cowper Task v. 819 What strains were they With which heav'n rang. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 313 The air Rang with her shrieks.
(γ) 4 pl. rungen; 6– rung, 6 roong.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 931 Chaplaynez..Rungen ful rychely. 1587Golding De Mornay i. (1592) 9 The Schooles of the Stoikes, Academikes, and Peripatetikes, roong of that [prayer]. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 583 Bells and bosses..full lowdly rung. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 562 The Heav'ns and all the Constellations rung. 1676Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 360 The great bell rung out. 1797Southey Joan of Arc vi, On the batter'd shield Rung the loud lance. 1837Disraeli Venetia ii. vii, One with whose name the world rung.
3. pa. pple. (α) 3–4 i-runge(n, 4 rungen, 4–5 runge, 5 rounge, 6 roung, 6– rung.
c1205Lay. 29441 No belle [was] i-rungen, no masse isunge. a1300K. Horn (Cambr. MS.) 1092 Or eny day was sprunge Oþer belle irunge. 1381in Knighton's Chron. (Rolls) II. 139 He hath rungen ȝoure belle. c1400Rom. Rose 5266 A fooles belle is sone runge. 1466in Archaeol. (1887) L. i. 49 Call for help whan it ys rounge with moo. a1550Freiris Berwik 286 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 295 Curfur wes rung. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xxiv. 72 Quhill Drureis bells be roung about ȝour eiris. 1684T. Burnet Th. Earth i. 276 All antiquity would have rung of it. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 136 The bell is rung at Cirknitz. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 64 The sound of a bell rung under water.
(β) 4 y-ronge, 4–6 ronge, 5–6 rong; 5 rongene, 5–6 rongen.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 565 Thus was her shame y-ronge. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 413 Þat þe houres of the day schulde be ronge at chirches. c1440Gesta Rom. xviii. 332 The belle shulde be rongen [v.r. rong] of a maiden. 1533Surtees Misc. (1890) 34 To the merkyt bell be rongen. 1594in Flora A. MacLeod Hist. St. Mary's Ch., Shrewsbury (1894) 16 The greete bell was ronge owt there.
(γ) 7, 9 rang.
1691tr. Emilianne's Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3) 127 He having rang his Bell. 1805E. de Acton Nuns of Desert I. 249 The prayer bell was ordered to be rang.
B. Signification.
I. intr.
1. a. To give out the clear or resonant sound characteristic of certain hard metals when struck with, or striking upon, something hard. Also of a trumpet, etc.: To sound loudly.
Beowulf 327 Buᵹon þa to bence, byrnan hringdon. c1000Salomon & Saturn 534 (Kemble), Swiðe swingeð and his searo hringeð. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 520 Wiþ..gaye sadeles, and bridelis ryngynge be þe weye. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1742 Now ryngen trompes loude and clarioun. a1440Sir Degrev. 1192 Thei ryden..With two trompess of the best, That range as a bell. 1513Douglas æneis xiii. v. 68 Quhair is now..Thy vocis sown quhilk as a trumpet rang? 1565Cooper Thes. s.v. Tinnio, To rynge or make a sowne as metall doth. a1601? Marston Pasquil & Kath. ii. (1878) 78 Chunck, chunck, his bags doe ring. 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 832 With.. many a bang, Hard Crab-tree and old Iron rang. 1761Gray Fatal Sisters 24 Pikes must shiver, jav'lins sing,..Hauberk crash, and helmet ring. 1768Beattie Minstr. i. iii, The harp..Which to the whistling wild responsive rung. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxix, When he heard the Chieftain's horn ringing through the woods. 1842Tennyson Sir Galahad v, The tempest crackles on the leads, And, ringing, springs from brand and mail. 1878Browning Poets Croisic 86 The gauntlet rings On brazen visor proof against attack.
b. spec. as a mark of goodness, genuineness, or wholeness.
1803Phil. Trans. XCIII. 73 When silver was alloyed with the standard proportion of tin, it proved brittle, and did not ring well. 1844Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 87 The potter's mark upon his work, to show It rings well to the striker. 1894S. R. Bottone Elect. Instr. 71 The bottle or jar should be..free from flaw or crack. To ascertain this, it should be made to ‘ring’.
c. fig. To impress one as having a certain (genuine or false) character.
1611B. Jonson Catiline iv. ii, But Crassus, and this Caesar here ring hollow. 1857E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 251 Hafiz and old Omar Khayyám ring like true Metal. 1863Sat. Rev. 22 Aug. 243 To an English reader they ring false. 1900Brodrick Mem. 227 His [Bright's] best orations were superior to Gladstone's as compositions and rang truer on a critical ear.
d. Of an electric circuit or a solid body: to undergo damped oscillation at its resonant frequency.
1952G. C. Smith in Molloy & Poole Television Engineers' Servicing Man. 12 The flyback ‘overshoots’ and ‘rings’, but it is frequently damped out by a capacitor and a resistance in series across the coils. 1973Newnes Colour Television Servicing Manual I. ii. 56/2 The amplified signal delivered from its collector causes Ti to ‘ring’. 1975Nature 24 Jan. 233/1 It has been widely accepted..that a [nuclear] test fired while the Earth was ringing from a really major earthquake..would be impossible to detect.
2. a. Of bells: To give forth a clear metallic note under the impact of the hammer or clapper.
c1200Ormin 901 Godd off heffne aȝȝ wollde himm sellf Þa belless herenn ringenn. a1300Cursor M. 20699 Dos þe belles all at ring. 13..Sir Beues 2250 So stod Beues..Til noun belle be-gan to ring. c1440Alph. Tales 40 And all þe bellis in þe place rang be þer one. 1530Palsgr. 691/2, I holde the a penye I tell the where this bell ryngeth. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 105 In the castle the alarme rang, but the embushement kept them stil close. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 78 Duke. Who call'd heere of late? Pro. None since the Curphew rung. 1676Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 360 The great bell rung out for Earle of C. C. Coll., fellow. 1712Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Mrs. Hewet Mar., The post bell rings, my next shall be longer. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cvi. 1 Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky. 1864Meredith Sandra Belloni xxxiii, Mr. Pole's bedroom-bell rang.
fig.c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. Prol. 42 The sely tonge may wel rynge and chymbe Of wrecchednesse that passed is ful yoore. 1809Malkin Gil Blas i. ii. ⁋5 When I had been pestered with all the tittle-tattle of the town..the changes were just beginning to ring on some new subject.
b. To convey a summons to service, prayers, church, etc.
1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xlii. (Percy Soc.) 207 For though the day be never so longe, At last the belles ringeth to evensonge. 1592Marlowe Massacre Paris i. viii, That bell, that to the devil's matins rings. 1621in Birch Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) II. 264 The bell is now ringing to a congregation; and they say it is to send letters gratulatory from the university. 1719Swift Let. to Young Clergyman Wks. 1751 V. 17 It was but just finished, when the last Bell rung to Church. 1850Thackeray Pendennis l, The bells of the multitudinous City churches were ringing to evening prayers.
c. to ring in: (see quot. and cf. 7 c). Sc.
1825Jamieson s.v., Bells are said to be ringing in, when, in order to stop them, the repetition of the strokes, becomes quicker than before. 1891[see ringing vbl. n. 1 b].
d. Of a telephone (bell): to produce the ringing sound which indicates that there is a caller on the line (line n.2 1 e).
1924J. Reith Broadcast over Britain iii. v. 168 If people are moving about the room, or the telephone rings..the [radio] play has simply no chance. 1951M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael i. iv. 27 The telephone rang at intervals all the evening. 1979T. Wiseman Game of Secrets iv. 48 He spent an hour getting himself reconnected, and after that he waited for the telephone to ring.
3. a. Of places: To resound, re-echo, with some sound or noise.
a1300Cursor M. 15040 All þai sang als wit a muth Þat all þe cite rang. c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 308, I herd aboute her trone y-songe That al the paleys walles ronge. a1400–50Alexander 5157 Scho gaffe skirmand skrikis at all þe skowis range. 1508Dunbar Golden Targe 25 The skye rang for schoutyng of the larkis. 1515Scottish Field 566 in Chetham Misc. (1856), There was dealling of dentes, that all the dales rongen. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. v. iv, Sing alowd; make heavens vault to ring. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 495 Bleating herds Attest thir joy, that hill and valley rings. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 157 The Welkin rings, Men, Dogs, Hills, Rocks, and Woods, In the full Consort join. 1784Cowper Task iv. 147 No powder'd pert..assaults these doors Till the street rings. 1805Scott Last Minstr. ii. iii, The arched cloister..Rang to the warrior's clanking stride. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xxiii. 23 Round us all the thicket rang To many a flute of Arcady.
fig.1671Milton Samson 1449, I heard all as I came, the City rings And numbers thither flock.
b. Const. with, or † of, the sound.
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 1397 The castel and cete rang With mynstralsi and nobil sang. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xii. 432 Cryenge and chacyng after kynge Marke that alle the forest range of the noyse. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1331/1 They of Flushing shot two peales, with so great noise..that all the ground rang of it. 1589Hakluyt Voy. 282 The skie rang againe with the noyse thereof. 1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 36 All the Rooms rung with nothing but a continued Noise. 1700Prior Carmen Seculare 220 With the glad Noise the Cliffs and Vallies ring. a1764Lloyd Poet. Wks. II. 218 Ev'ry hill with heavenly musick rings. 1829Lytton Devereux i. iii, I scarcely listened to the applauses with which the hall rang. 1871Macduff Mem. Patmos xix. 256 Miriam and her sisters..made the shores ring with the refrain.
c. To be filled with talk or report of, to resound with the report or fame of, a thing, event, or person. Also with that and clause.
(a)1608Topsell Serpents 664 Never so much as mentioning them—whereof..so many authors..do so much ring. 1675Baxter Cath. Theol. ii. i. 283 The City ringeth of you as one that greatly wrongeth the cause of God. 1728Morgan Hist. Algiers II. ii. 227 All Europe began to ring of his Depredations. 1749Fielding Tom Jones ii. v, The country..rung of the schoolmaster of Little Baddington; who was said to have beaten his wife. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 395 Back would he to his studies, make a name..: the world should ring of him.
(b)1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. vi. (1739) 33 The Parliament rings herewith, yet the King delays the remedy. 1711Addison Spect. No. 117 ⁋4 She..has made the Country ring with several imaginary Exploits which are palmed upon her. 1803Wordsw. Sonn. Liberty xxii. 5 The great events with which old story rings Seem vain and hollow. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 74 The story with which all the parish was ringing.
(c)1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xv. (1739) 27 The publick Synods rang, that the Prelates loved not Princes.
4. a. Of a sound: To be loud or resonant; to resound, re-echo. Also with out.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2204 A wonder breme noyse,..hit rusched, & ronge, rawþe to here. 1513Douglas æneis xiii. viii. 79 Joyus vocis ryngis furth..Our all the palys ryall to and fro. a1535Frere & Boy 162 (Ritson), It range ouer all the place. 1629Milton Hymn Nativity xvii, With such a horrid clang As on mount Sinai rang While the red fire..out brake. 1676Dryden Aurengz. iii. i, Through my dark Cell your shouts of Triumph rung. 1764Gray J.T. 16 Shrieks of death, thro' Berkley's roofs that ring. 1786Burns Lass o' Ballochmyle 7 Green-wood echoes rang Amang the braes o' Ballochmyle. 1805Scott Last Minstr. i. xviii, The sound..rung in the Ladye's bower. 1850Thackeray Pendennis xxxix, Strong's laughter..came ringing out of window. 1874Green Short Hist. v. §1. 214 The music of the lark and the nightingale rang out from field and thicket.
fig.1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. v. (1739) 12 A good disposition to Religion.., and such an one as rang loud to Rome. 1648Milton Sonn. xv. 1 Fairfax, whose name in armes through Europe rings. 1808Scott Autobiog. in Lockhart (1837) I. i. 3 That ancient chieftain, whose name I have made to ring in many a ditty.
b. to ring in (or † about) one's ears, to linger persistently in one's hearing; to haunt the memory. So ring in one's fancy, heart.
1540–1Elyot Image Gov. 52 Having also ringyng in mine eare, the terrible checke that the good maister in the gospel gave to his idell servant. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 74 Thy old grones yet ringing in my auncient eares. 1722De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 139 The Sound seems still to Ring in my Ears. 1736Ainsworth s.v. Ring, These words ring continually about my ears. 1821Lamb Elia i. My First Play, That old Artaxerxes evening had never done ringing in my fancy. 1835Marryat J. Faithful xxxii, The two bars of music were constantly ringing in my ears. 1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 216 The voice of God still rang in his heart.
5. Of the ears: To be affected by a sensation similar to that produced by the sound of bells, etc.; to tingle, hum, or be filled with a sound.
1388Wyclif 1 Sam. iii. 11 Which word who euer schal here, bothe hise eeris schulen rynge.
1565Cooper Thes. s.v. Tinnio, My eares rynge of them⁓selfe. 1675Dryden Aurengz. ii. i, My Ears still ring with noise, I'm vex'd to Death, Tongue-kill'd. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1080 To ring, as ones ears do, tinnire. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 704 The ears ring with unusual sounds. 1851Jerrold St. Giles xxv. 254 Already his ears rang with the shoutings of..a delighted senate.
II. trans.
6. a. To cause (a bell) to give forth sound; spec. in order to summon a servant. † Also with out.
c1131O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1131, Þa muneces..brohten him into cyrce.., ringden þa belle. c1205Lay. 16929 Ich hæten eou..bulden þa chirchen, bellen leten ringen. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11215 At seinte marie churche a clerc þe commun belle rong. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 58 Religiouse reuerenced hym, and rongen here belles. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3810 And þe sexstens rong þo þe belle. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 214/2 The bellys sowned and wer ronge wythout mannes honde. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 130 b, They ran into every churche, and there range all the belles at ones. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 193 The greatest bell called Marie, requires twentie foure men to ring it. 1691tr. Emilianne's Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3) 127 He having rang his Bell, all the Company shut up their Glasses and Bottles. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 183 In violent tempests..they ring two little bells which are hung in the tower. 1788C. Smith Emmeline (1816) I. 254 The servant..told him that Miss Mowbray had not yet rang her bell. 1828H. S. Boyd in E. H. Barker Parr I. 338, I have often stood in the belfry at Margate when the bells were being rung. 1856Dickens Dorrit (1857) i. x. 81 ‘I must refer you,’ returned Mr. Barnacle, ringing the bell, ‘to the Department.’ 1870L'Estrange Life Miss Mitford I. v. 127 No bells were rung in the castle for a month. 1914L. Woolf Wise Virgins ii. 31 They [sc. servants] won't stay because you ring the bell for them while they're at dinner!
fig.c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1062 O, rolled shal I been on many a tonge; Thorugh-ought þe world my belle shal be ronge. 1390Gower Conf. I. 217 Perse after his false tunge Hath so thenvious belle runge, That he hath slain his oghne brother. c1400Rom. Rose 5266 Fooles can not holde hir tunge; A fooles belle is sone runge. 1635Quarles Embl. iv. iii, When ere the Old Exchange of Profit rings Her silver Saints-bell of uncertaine gaines. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 367 To Ring one's own Bell is the same as ‘to be one's own trumpeter’.
b. to ring out, to sound vigorously.
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 163 Secretly stirring vp the people, and by and by after ringing out the bells. c1642Twyne in Wood's Life (O.H.S.) I. 81 They in the towne..range out their great bell. 1796Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. vii. 239 Upon the hoisting of a flag on the Tron⁓steeple, and ringing out all the large bells.
c. to ring up, to raise (a bell) directly over the beam and ring it in that position.
1855Rec. Bucks 159 If he were rung up like an ordinary metal bell. 1872Ellacombe Bells of Ch. in Ch. Bells Devon viii. 223 The great bell at Gloucester..used to be rung up for the Sunday services by six men standing in the body of the choir. 1888T. North Bells & Bell Lore 123 The tenor is first tolled, then rung up, then, after a pause, lowered.
d. to ring the bell: to win recognition; to be a complete success (see also bell n.1 7 c).
1915Munsey's Mag. Apr. 561/2, I am reading your ‘Barry Newton’ yarn. It scores a bulls' eye, it rings the bell, it brings a coconut to earth. 1925E. Wallace Strange Countess x. 93 ‘You've certainly rung the bell this time, Lois.’ ‘It seems too good to be true, doesn't it?’ 1945Daily Mirror 15 Aug. 3/3 Leeds Corporation has fifty ‘retired’ trams to sell... They think a tram would ‘ring the bell’ as a home, week-end bungalow, or greenhouse. 1976Church Times 30 July 7/5 The wise sight-seer knows that, however alert and receptive he is, even the treasures of Florence aren't going to ring the bell every time.
e. to ring a bell (colloq.): see bell n.1 7 d.
7. absol. To cause a bell or bells to sound. Also spec. to summon or send for a servant or required object by this means.
a1300Cursor M. 21306 Ilkan o þaim þair lar þai lere, And ringes to þe werld at here, Dinnes þe toþer, trumpes þe thrid. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 931 Chaplaynez to þe chapeles chosen þe gate, Rungen ful rychely, ryȝt as þay schulden. c1400Brut cliii, On þe morwe men ronge, & songe masses þrouȝ-out London, and so after þrouȝ-out all Engeland. 1530Palsgr. 691/2, I feare me some house be afyre in the nexte parysshe, for they rynge aukewarde. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxviii. ix, The battaile maides, which did with tymbrells ring. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 297 Some of his Servants going to ring in the old Steeple..had been in danger of their lives. 1782F. Burney Cecilia ix. iv, She expected every instant that he would ring for his chair. 1819Metropolis I. 57, I rung and had the dog removed. 1847E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. x. 202 Why not have Mrs. Dean up to finish her tale?.. I'll ring: she'll be delighted to find me capable of talking cheerfully. 1859–64Tennyson Grandmother xv, The ringers rang with a will. 1864H. Cullwick Diary June in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 195 Me by myself in that kitchen..ready to do any thing for 'em whenever they rang for me. 1879Meredith Egoist xxxvii, Sir Willoughby went to ring for her carriage. 1926D. L. Sayers Clouds of Witness ii. 49 Ring for anything you want. 1980N. Marsh Photo-Finish vii. 188 Alleyn..put his thumb on the bell..and Marco came in... He said: ‘You rang, sir?’
transf.1711Addison Spect. No. 115 ⁋7, I exercise myself..upon a dumb Bell..; they never come into my Room to disturb me whilst I am ringing.
b. To summon to (divine service, church, etc.) by means of a bell.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 425 Tyl þe daye dawed..That men rongen to þe resurexioun. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4045 To rynge to matyns þai began. 1466in Archaeologia (1887) L. i. 51 Thei [sc. clerics] shal be redy to ryng to all maner of diuine seruice. 1519Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 269 We thynke it were more convenient to ryng to matyns..at halfe oure to v. 1547in T. North Bells & Bell Lore (1888) 81 Pd. to ij Ryngers wch rong to y⊇ Sermon when the bisshop of lincoln was here. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxx. 427 To strike up a drumme every day at the Sunne setting, to the same end that we are accustomed to ring to evensong. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 192 marg., The way of Ringing to the Office in St. Sepulchres.
c. to ring (all) in, to give the final strokes or peal before the service begins. Also said of a bell, esp. the Sanctus bell. (Cf. 2 c.)
1466in Archaeologia (1887) L. i. 51 Be for the last pele warne the moroues masse preste and aske hym if he shal rynge alle in. 1483Cath. Angl. 308/2 To Rynge jn, conclassitare. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. (1887) 142 If ye crie come who will, or ring out all in. 1611Cotgr., Coppeter, to ring all-in, or the last peale. 1633B. Jonson Tale Tub ii. i, We are now going To church in way of matrimony..; They ha' rung all in a' ready. 1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 1224 Because it is..The onely Saints-Bell that rings all in.
8. a. With cogn. obj.: To sound forth (a peal, knell, etc.); to perform upon bells. Also transf.
c1300Vox & Wolf 251 in Rel. Ant. II. 277 Thi soul-cnul ich wile do ringe. c1380St. Augustine 1642 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878), To euensong Men rongen þo þreo peles long. 1466in Archaeologia (1887) L. i. 49 To helpe the Sexton to Rynge the secounde pele to matens. 1547J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes a iiij b, If these..should fele but half the miserie,..thei would not be halfe so hastie to ryng alarmes. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 402 Sea-Nimphs hourly ring his knell. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 790 The Breath Of brazen Trumpets rung the Peals of Death. 1787Europ. Mag. XII. 434 The bells of the churches rung their dead peals during the day. 1822Shelley ‘When the lamp’ ii. 8 The mournful surges That ring the dead sea⁓man's knell. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola ii. xxi, The great bell in the..tower had rung out the hammer-sound of alarm.
fig.1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 64 She beginneth..with a cry..To whiche she ringth a peale, a larom. 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. ii. 43 Ere..The shard-borne Beetle..Hath rung Nights yawning Peale. 1636Massinger Gt. Dk. Flor. iii. i, My pockets ring A golden peal. 176.Wesley Husb. & Wives vii. 2 The husband may..ring his wife a peal concerning her duty. 1796Grose's Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), To Ring a Peal, to scold: chiefly applied to women. His wife rung him a fine peal! 1809Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ⁋31 Moralez happening to launch out into the praise of Seville, the man..said to him—..You are ringing the chimes on the city which gave birth to me. Ibid. vii. i. ⁋9 Her tongue..rung a bob-major of invective. 1826Lamb Elia, Pop. Fallacies ix, Ringing a round of the most ingenious conceits, every man contributing his shot.
b. to ring (the) changes: see change n. 8 c.
(a)1614,1670[see change n. 8 c]. 1711Addison Spect. No. 60 ⁋2 The Poet rung the Changes upon these eight several Words. 1763J. Brown Poetry & Music 66 Commentators and Critics ring Changes on their single, double, oblique, right-handed, and left-handed Flutes. 1845Disraeli Sybil (1863) 279 Ring the changes on great measures and great experiments till it is time to go down and make a House. 1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 145 We all know how fond foxes usually are of ringing the changes among the multitudinous woods hereabouts.
(b)1786[see change n. 8 c]. 1812[see 13 b]. 1859Slang Dict., Ringing the Changes, changing bad money for good. 1875Chamb. Jrnl. 67 The London news-boys..know how to ring the changes, and how to make old editions pass for new ones. 1891Belgravia Feb. 142 An ill-looking ruffian charged with what is called ‘ringing the changes’.
c. To accompany with the ringing of a bell.
1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes ii, The muffin boy rings his way down the little street much more slowly than he is wont to do.
9. To announce or proclaim (an hour, time, † a miracle, etc.) by sound of bells. Also transf.
c960æthelwold Rule St. Benet (Schröer, 1885) 72 Sy þæs abbodes ᵹymen, þæt mon ealle tida..on rihte timan..hrincge. a1100in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865) 437 Yc ᵹef leaua ðam munche to hringinde hyre tyde. 1303R. Brunne Handl Synne 928 Ouþer men seyd, þey shuld nat werche Lengyr þan þey rong none at þe chyrche. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 413 Samnianus..ordeynede þat þe houres of the day schulde be ronge at chirches. 1466in Archaeologia (1887) L. i. 49 Also he shall Rynge Curfie whan it ys rounge with one bell and call for help whan it ys rounge with moo. 1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 134/2 Thys blind man at saint albonis shrine had his sight agayne, and a myracle solemply rongen. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 172 Our Lady of Court of Strete had revived hir from the very point of death: and..hir pleasure was, that it should be rong for a miracle. 1632Milton L'Allegro 114 Ere the first Cock his Mattin rings. 1673–1704 [see curfew 1 c]. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxvi, The city bells were just ringing one. 1875–6Stevenson Ess. Trav., Forest Notes (1905) 152 Suddenly the bell rings out the hour from far-away Chailly.
fig.1633B. Jonson Tale Tub ii. i, Till this ash-plant Had rung noon on your pate.
10. a. To usher in or out with the sound of bells; to bring or convey in this manner. Also fig. to ring in: (fig.) to include, take into consideration; to bring (someone) into an operation, activity, etc.
1554in T. North Bells & Bell Lore (1888) 80 For shot⁓tynge of iij ropes when the[y] ronge bishop Samson in. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 194 A cough sir, which I caught with Ringing in the Kings affayres, vpon his Coronation day. 1600Holland Livy liv. Epit. 1241 At his death he was rung out of this world with a notable peale of farewell. 1633Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 61 It is possible, that such a one, even by that discordous noise, may ring in others into the triumphant Church of heaven. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xvi, For there will we ring-in Lent. 1844J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows xiii, Mr. Akenside resigned, and was ‘rung out’ of the parish. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. ix. 1316 Pompilia scorns to have the old year end Without a present shall ring in the new.
fig.1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 41 The Dolphins drumme..Sings heauy Musicke.., And mine shall ring thy dire departure out. 1633Herbert Temple, Aaron 8 A noise of passions ringing me for dead Unto a place where is no rest. 1900Ade Fables in Slang 74 The Pew-Holders didn't even admit..that the Preacher had rung in some New Ones [sc. names]. 1922D. H. Lawrence England, my England 45 The clanging pain in his head rang out the rest of his consciousness. 1925T. Dreiser Amer. Tragedy II. iii. xvi. 202 She can't be kept out of the case... We'll have to ring her in, I'm afraid. 1954Wodehouse Jeeves & Feudal Spirit viii. 72 I've got the whole family here... I only wanted Trotter, but Mrs. T. and Percy rang themselves in. 1973New Yorker 17 Feb. 88/2 With that one stroke, the union could ring in a lot of public figures. 1974Publishers Weekly 30 Dec. 90/1 Mr. Brooke is summoned from far away Lima, and an old suitor of Philippa's, Lord Tancred, is rung in to help.
b. To summon (a person) by ringing a bell. Also with down, in, up, etc. to ring bees, to try to influence their swarming by making a noise with metal utensils (still dial.).
1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 64 She ringth a peale,..suche one, As folke ring bees with basons. 1674in N. & Q. 9th Ser. IX. 463/2 A territt..to hang a bell in, to ring the poor people to prayers. 1736Fielding Pasquin iv. Wks. 1882 X. 174 Come, ring up the first ghost. 1760Sterne Tr. Shandy iii. iii, He had got his right hand to the bell to ring up Trim. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxiv, Ring in the orchestra, Grudden! 1848― Dombey iii, She had been rung down into the glass room as usual.
(b) spec. to call (someone) by telephone; freq. with up; also absol., and with round (= to call a succession of people by telephone), through.
1880Punch 17 July 13/2 For you upon them both may frown, And say that you are shocked, or May knock the Secretary down, And then ring up the Doctor. 1882T. D. Lockwood Pract. Information for Telephonists 130 Ask the office operator to ring up the complaining person and await results. 1889Preece & Maier Telephone 111 A telephone⁓stud which permits not only to ring-up a person but also to converse with him. 1906S. Ford Shorty McCabe vi. 150 He was goin' to ring up the police reserves. 1913G. B. Shaw Let. 14 July in B. Shaw & Mrs. Campbell (1952) 132, I shall ring up tomorrow in spite of my dread of being unwelcome. I rang a second time today; but the answer was buzz, buzz. 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement viii. 398 He rang me up last night, at home, to say he'd just arrived and would be down this morning. 1934T. E. Lawrence Let. 14 Sept. (1938) 819 It lies on my conscience that you so often ring up vainly. 1934N. Marsh Man lay Dead xii. 207 I'll ring through at about one o'clock. 1940H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood ii. i. 134 There were one or two people he might ring up, but probably they would be holiday-making now and out of town. 1948‘N. Shute’ No Highway vi. 169 While I was down there, Miss Learoyd rang through. 1955Times 22 July 10/6 Two young friends rang me up rather excitedly the other evening and asked me if I would go round and give them my advice. 1958L. A. G. Strong Treason in Egg vii. 127 You'd better ring the police. 1960J. Stroud Shorn Lamb xv. 170 If he does [turn up], I'll ring round for a hostel. 1969Listener 6 Feb. 187/1 When Jelly Roll Morton..played his compositions to the Harlem team, eyebrows were raised no further than the pejorative ‘don't ring us’ level. 1974A. Morice Killing with Kindness ii. 14 He was going to ring round in the morning and fix up for us all to go and see them. 1974Times 7 Feb. 14/6 By ringing and writing to every MP, Service and the bill's sponsors have so far secured 74 pledges to be present. 1977‘M. Underwood’ Murder with Malice x. 91 ‘Thanks for ringing, sir. I appreciate it.’.. Nick dropped the receiver back. 1980A. Auswaks Trick of Diamonds iii. 80 ‘Don't ring us, we'll ring you,’ grunted Bob Jones sarcastically. 1981J. Wainwright All on Summer's Day 66 Ring round the other divisions. I want some C.I.D. men.
c. To direct (a theatre-curtain) to be drawn up or let down by making a bell ring. Also absol. and intr. for passive (with the curtain as subject). Also fig.
1772D. Garrick Peep behind Curtain ii. i. 30 Pray be so good as to ring down the curtain, that we may rehearse in form. 1807Monthly Mirror Aug. 133 The prompter rings the lofty curtain down. 1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xiii, Look sharp below there, gents,..they're a-going to ring-up. 1882Daily News 2 Oct. 2/2 The functionary whose business it is to ‘ring down’ had satisfied himself that nobody wanted any more of it. 1887Times 31 Aug. 4/3 The curtain had to be rung down before the play was ended. 1901‘Linesman’ Words Eyewitness 75 Before the curtain was rung up on the great spectacular drama of Vaal Krantz. 1913F. H. Burnett T. Tembarom xv. 186 ‘Now,’ he said, ‘we can ring up for the first act.’ She filled the teapot. 1916S. Kaye-Smith John Galsworthy 63 Thus the curtain rings down on Irene Forsyte, crushed under the heel of prosperity. 1950H. F. Maltby (title) Ring up the curtain.
d. to ring off, to give signal by a bell for the severance of communication upon a telephone; now more usu., to discontinue a telephone conversation by replacing the receiver, = hang up s.v. hang v. 29 a. Also fig.
1882T. D. Lockwood Pract. Information for Telephonists 85 Frequently an annunciator between two circuits when connected to allow the subscriber, if he please, to ring off. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 134/2 When the subscribers have finished, both call the exchange or, as it is commonly put, ‘ring off’. 1899Electrician 1 Dec. 181/2 Ringing off is avoided, as this is performed automatically by replacing the receiver on the hook. 1900[see phone n.2 and v.]. 1901Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 800 She heard him ring off, hang up the receiver, and go out into the hall. 1906A. Bennett Whom God hath Joined iv. 158 He rang off, curtly, without another word. 1920R. Macaulay Potterism iii. i. 104 You mustn't ring off yet, indeed you mustn't. Hold on while I tell daddy. 1935Punch 21 Aug. 223/1 ‘I'm coming round to wring your wretched little neck!’ shouted Mr. Applestalk as he rang off. 1938E. Bowen Death of Heart iii. i. 328 ‘So then you rang off?’ ‘No, he did. It was his tea-time, no doubt.’ 1967M. Kenyon Whole Hog i. 12 I'll ring him anyway... 'Bye now—Yes, I'm going to ring off. 1973S. Dobyns Man of Little Evils xii. 127 The operator came back on the line. ‘I'm afraid your party has rung off.’
fig.1895Inlander Dec. 114 Ring off, stop talking. 1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands vi. 71 ‘Shut up! D'yeh 'ear?.. Arr-r-r ring off, cant yeh!’ The girl..opened a startled eye. 1938F. M. Ford Let. 26 Nov. (1965) 305, I will ring off. Let us know from time to time how things go with you. 1940F. Sargeson Man & his Wife 34 Wouldn't you like to stay out here for good? Fred said. Ring off, Ken said. I got a bite.
e. to ring back, to reply to (a previous caller) by telephone. Also absol. and as n.
Quots. 1971 and 1972 represent technical senses in Telephony.
1942N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air iii. 57, I hung up. ‘Pearce is going to ring you back,’ I said. 1944H. McCloy Panic 118 This is Jim, testing. I'm going to hang up and then I want you to ring me back. 1960I. Jefferies Dignity & Purity xi. 181 I'll ring you back Gobbo. Couple of minutes. 1969P. N. Walker Carnaby & Conspirators vii. 68 ‘Make a check on Henry Pritchard too, sir.’.. ‘Will do. Will you ring me back?’ 1971Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) iii. ii. 28 Ring⁓back signal, a backward signal to recall a calling subscriber held by the operator. 1972Sci. Amer. Sept. 120/1 When the path is found, the signal-distributor sends electrical signals to ring the telephone of the called subscriber and sends ringback tones to the caller. 1974M. Birmingham You can help Me iii. 47 There was one caller from a public call-box who..didn't ring back. 1977W. Marshall Thin Air i. 11 He said quickly, ‘I'll ring you back.’
f. to ring in, to report by telephone. Also trans., to transmit (a verbal message) by telephone.
1949N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing xi. 254 I'll ring in then and get something to eat. 1956New Statesman 18 Aug. 180/3 We had to think about finding a telephone booth from which to ring in a preliminary story. 1964M. Banton Policeman in Community iii. 83 The beat officer has to ‘ring in’ to headquarters every hour from automatic boxes mounted on standards at the kerbside. 1971B. Graham Spy Trap i. 7 He..drove to the secondary rendezvous point... Maybe Hannifin had rung in. 1975Listener 16 Oct. 505/1 People ring in, wanting help.
11. a. To cause to give out a ringing sound; to make to resound.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1573 Atte laste The Statue of Mars bigan his hauberk rynge. c1425Cast. Persev. 3001 in Macro Plays 160 Whon Coueytyse makyth þee a-dred, with rappys I þee rynge. c1440Pallad. on Husb. xii. 606 [Let] Louyng record and rynge her stryngis chaste To thyn honour. c1440Ipomydon 788 He blew loud and shoke it wele, That it ronge all þe castelle. 1573Satir. Poems Reform. xxxix. 2 Mak ȝow for the gait, To ring ȝour drummis & rank ȝour men of weir.
b. To test (coin, etc.) by making it ring.
1702[see ringing vbl. n.2 1]. 1777Brand Pop. Antiq. 12 Housewives..try the Soundness of their Earthen or China Vases by ringing them with a finger. 1796Pegge Anonym. (1809) 266 Ringing, or sounding, money, to try if it be good, is not modern. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. i. 31 Debating about the genuineness of a coin without ringing it. 1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan 94 Not caring to ring copper half-pennies Upon the counter.
c. to ring up: to make a record of; spec. to record (a sale) on a cash register or similar device. Also fig.
1937J. T. Farrell Fellow Countrymen 180 He paid Kitty fifteen cents, which she rang up. 1939Sun (Baltimore) 18 Jan. 5/5 Asked if the ship's speeds in any of its previous trips through the canal had been ‘rung up’, Leonard Nieberline, first officer, answered in the negative. 1948C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 267. When she stopped at the cash register across from him to ring up a sale he said, ‘Baby, I really love you.’ 1956A. Huxley Adonis & Alphabet 167 Energies which, if canalized and directed, can be made to do useful work and ring up handsome profits. 1957Economist 21 Dec. 1051/1 Last Saturday, when the strike was crumbling, the shops stayed open until nine; many rang up record sales. 1962Times 15 Mar. 9/7 The items in connexion with which he was accused did not appear upon the cash receipt slip. The cashier must have omitted to ring these up. 1968[see driver 2 b]. 1970Daily Tel. 14 Nov. 15/3 One technique is to bully the check-out girl and get her sufficiently confused to miss the fact that half the goods have been pushed through without having been rung up. 1976‘E. McBain’ Guns vii. 148 The cashier rings up the check, money comes tumbling down the cash register chute.
12. a. To utter sonorously; to proclaim aloud; to re-echo. Also with out.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 565 Allas thus was her shame y-ronge..on euery tonge. c1386― Pard. T. Prol. 3 In chirche whan I preche, I peyne me to haue an hauten speche; I rynge it out as rounde as eny belle. 1535Lyndesay Satyre 74 Till all our rymis be rung, And our mistoinit sangis be sung. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 336 If hee ring out the name of the Lorde, and preache his lawe. 1589Whip for an Ape 89 in Lyly's Wks. 1902 III. 420 And Martins mate Iacke Strawe would alwaies ring The Clergies faults. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant v. i, I would ring him such a lesson. 1689Shadwell Bury F. i. i, All England rings out your fame. 1870Morris Earthly Paradise I. 539 All about the Lydian shouting rings Death to the beaten foemen. 1887Bowen Virg. Ecl. vi. 44 The mariner men Shouted for Hylas, and every shore rang Hylas again.
b. To cause to resound, to din, in one's ears.
1657Trapp Comm. Ezra viii. 29 This lesson had need to be often rung in our ears. 1663Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xix. 190 The people rang this continually in their ears. 1708Swift Sacr. Test Wks. 1751 IV. 171 Persecution was every day rung in our Ears. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 231, I took all opportunities of ringing in their ears such instances of the Spaniards cruelty.
13. slang. To change, exchange; spec. to effect a fraudulent change in the identity of a motor vehicle.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Ringing Castors signifies frequenting churches and other public assemblies, for the purpose of changing hats, by taking away a good and leaving a shabby one in its place. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 210 How could'st thou be so silly, Flash screens [bad notes] to ring for home-spun rope. 1967N. Lucas CID vi. 80 The two cars are..rebuilt into one ‘bastard’ car... The process is known as ‘ringing’ cars. 1971Drive Summer 22/1 Like any commercial venture, the business of car ringing—changing a vehicle's identity—has to be cost-effective. 1977A. Hunter Gently Instrumental ii. 19 The Parry brothers..copped three apiece for ringing cars.
b. to ring in, to substitute fraudulently.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Ringing the changes, is a fraud practised by smashers, who when they receive good money in change of a guinea, &c., ring in one or more pieces of base with great dexterity and then request the party to change them. 1894Maskelyne Sharps & Flats 248 Another method of cheating the players is to ring in a loaded die which will fall six.
▸ colloq.don't ring us, we'll ring you and variants: = don't call us, we'll call you at call v. Additions. Also shortened as don't ring us.
1969Listener 6 Feb. 187/1 When Jelly Roll Morton..played his compositions to the Harlem team, eyebrows were raised no further than the pejorative ‘don't ring us’ level. 1980A. Auswaks Trick of Diamonds iii. 80 ‘Don't ring us, we'll ring you,’ grunted Bob Jones sarcastically. 1990Independent (Nexis) 8 Feb. 8 The message..to the British Conservative government is ‘Thank you Mrs Thatcher, for your lead and inspiration’, and to the Labour Party, ‘Don't ring us, we'll ring you.’ 2001Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 3 Nov. 40 [His] office confirmed yesterday his plan for immigration had not been released and could not say when this might be. Don't ring us, we'll ring you.
▪ V. ring
obs. Sc. f. reign v.; obs. var. wring v. |