Word.ws English Dictionary

ring

UK/ɹɪŋ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Midlands/ˈɹɪŋɡ/

ring noun: a circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring, finger ring etc. Also the ellipsis of webring.

ring: a circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring,...
Image: CDC/Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

ring (plural rings)

  1. (physical) A circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring, finger ring etc.
    Synonyms:
    annulus, hoop, torus
  2. (physical) A round piece of (precious) metal worn around the finger or through the ear, nose, etc.
    • His brother gifted him a ring for the engagement.
    • The dearest ring in Venice will I give you.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  3. (UK, physical) A bird band, a round piece of metal put around a bird's leg used for identification and studies of migration.
  4. (UK, physical) A burner on a kitchen stove, hob, or cooktop.
  5. (physical) A piece of food in the shape of a ring.
    • onion rings
    • calamari rings
  6. (physical) In a jack plug, the connector between the tip and the sleeve.
  7. (physical, vulgar) The rectum, anus, or anal sphincters.
    • Lick my ring!
  8. (historical, physical) An instrument, formerly used for taking the sun's altitude, consisting of a brass ring suspended by a swivel, with a hole at one side through which a solar ray entering indicated the altitude on the graduated inner surface opposite.
  9. (physical) A flexible band partly or wholly encircling the spore cases of ferns.
  10. (physical) A circular group of people or objects.
    • a ring of mushrooms growing in the wood
    • And hears the Muſes in a ring, / Ay round about Joves Altar ſing.a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 39
  11. (physical) A formation of various pieces of material orbiting around a planet or young star.
    • Soon Voyager will cross through the plane of Neptune's rings. This dusty, debris-laden zone is the most perilous passage. Most of the ring dust is the size of cigarette-smoke particles.1990 August, Rick Gore, “Neptune: Voyager's Last Picture Show”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, page 40
  12. (UK, physical) A large circular prehistoric stone construction such as Stonehenge.
Show 11 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A long stripe of contrastive material, colour, etc, that encircles something.
    • a ring of grime around the bathtub
  2. A place where some sports or exhibitions take place; notably a circular or comparable arena, such as a boxing ring or a circus ring; hence the field of a political contest.
    • Place me, O, place me in the dusty ring, / Where youthful charioteers contend for glory.1707, Edmund Smith, Phaedra and Hippolitus
    • “If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!” Sun Tzu said that, and I'd say he knows a little more about fighting than you do, pal, because he invented it, and then he perfected it so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor.2009 January 19, 0:14 from the start, in Meet the Soldier, spoken by Soldier (Rick May), Bellevue, Washington: Valve Corporation, via YouTube, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2025
    1. The open space in front of a racecourse stand, used for betting purposes.
  3. An exclusive group of people, usually involving some unethical or illegal practices.
    • a crime ring; a prostitution ring; a bidding ring (at an auction sale)
    • the ruling ring at Constantinople1877, Edward Augustus Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England
  4. A group of atoms linked by bonds to form a closed chain in a molecule.
    • a benzene ring
  5. A planar geometrical figure included between two concentric circles.
  6. A diacritical mark in the shape of a hollow circle placed above or under the letter; a kroužek.
  7. (historical) An old English measure of corn equal to the coomb or half a quarter.
    • The ring is common in the Huntingdonshire accounts of Ramsey Abbey. It was equal to half a quarter, i.e., is identical with the coomb of the eastern counties1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 168
  8. A hierarchical level of privilege in a computer system, usually at hardware level, used to protect data and functionality (also protection ring).
    • Kernel Mode processes run in ring 0, and User Mode processes run in ring 3.2007, Steve Anson, Steve Bunting, Mastering Windows Network Forensics and Investigation, page 70
  9. Either of the pair of clamps used to hold a telescopic sight to a rifle.
  10. The twenty-fifth Lenormand card.
  11. A network topology where connected devices form a circular data channel. All computers on the ring can see every message, and there are no collisions, and a single point of failure will occur if any part of the ring breaks.

Verb (1)

ring (third-person singular simple present rings, present participle ringing, simple past and past participle ringed)

  1. (transitive) To enclose or surround.
    • The inner city was ringed with dingy industrial areas.
    • Today, when stepping off the train, you're presented with a bright and airy concourse that's ringed with a variety of facilities.2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Eastbourne”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To make an incision around; to girdle; to cut away a circular tract of bark from a tree in order to kill it.
    • They ringed the trees to make the clearing easier next year.
    • The ironbark trees are "rung" at a certain height top and bottom, and the bark detached in one sheet; it is then wetted, and laid out flat on the ground, huge stones being placed to keep it from rolling up again.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 50
  3. (transitive) To attach a ring to, especially for identification.
    • We managed to ring 22 birds this morning.
    • Ringing a pig of ordinary size is easy, but special arrangements must be made for handling the big ones.1919, Popular Science, volume 95, number 4, page 31
  4. (transitive) To surround or fit with a ring, or as if with a ring.
    • to ring a pig’s snout
    • Ring these fingers with thy household worms.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. To rise in the air spirally.
    • […] how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing / In his ecstacy!1877 May 30, Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The Windhover: To Christ Our Lord”, in Robert Bridges, editor, Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Now First Published […], London: Humphrey Milford, published 1918...
  6. (transitive) To steal and change the identity of (cars) in order to resell them.
    • A. Woodley, Trio: 3 short stories
      Gabe said that as Derry had only caught part of the conversation, it's possible that they were discussing a film, it was bad enough that they'd unwittingly been brought into ringing cars, adding drugs into it was far more than either of them could ever be...
    • They used two bases in Digbeth to break down luxury motors, some of which were carjacked or stolen after keys were taken in house raids. The parts were then fitted to salvaged cars bought online. […] Jailing the quartet, a judge at Birmingham Crown Court said it was a "car ringing on a commercial...2019 (10 December), Ross McCarthy, Digbeth chop shop gang jailed over £2m stolen car racket (in Birmingham Live) https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/digbeth-chop-shop-gang-jailed-17393...
  7. (Australia, transitive) To ride around (a group of animals, especially cattle) to keep them milling in one place; hence (intransitive), to work as a drover, to muster cattle.
    • ‘I was ringing for your dad out there at Haddon Hill the year you was born. It was a good year for calves.’2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 289

Noun (2)

ring (plural rings)

  1. The resonant sound of a bell, or a sound resembling it.
    • The church bell's ring could be heard the length of the valley.
    • The ring of hammer on anvil filled the air.
  2. (figuratively) A pleasant or correct sound.
    • The name has a nice ring to it.
  3. (figuratively) A sound or appearance that is characteristic of something.
    • Her statements in court had a ring of falsehood.
  4. (colloquial) A telephone call.
    • I’ll give you a ring when the plane lands.
  5. Any loud sound; the sound of numerous voices; a sound continued, repeated, or reverberated.
    • the ring of acclamations fresh in his ears1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret...
  6. A chime, or set of bells harmonically tuned.
    • St Mary's has a ring of eight bells.
    • as great and tunable a ring of bells as any in the world1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)

Verb (2)

ring (third-person singular simple present rings, present participle ringing, simple past rang or (nonstandard) rung, past participle rung)

  1. (intransitive) Of a bell, etc., to produce a resonant sound.
    • The bells were ringing in the town.
  2. (transitive) To make (a bell, etc.) produce a resonant sound.
    • The deliveryman rang the doorbell to drop off a parcel.
    • The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, / Hath rung night's yawning peal.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  3. (transitive) To produce (a sound) by ringing.
    • They rang a Christmas carol on their handbells.
  4. (figuratively, intransitive) To produce the sound of a bell or a similar sound.
    • Whose mobile phone is ringing?
  5. (figuratively, intransitive) Of something spoken or written, to appear to be, to seem, to sound.
    • That does not ring true.
  6. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, colloquial, transitive) To telephone (someone).
    • I will ring you when we arrive.
  7. (intransitive) to resound, reverberate, echo.
    • […] And many an old philosophy
      ⁠On Argive heights divinely sang,
      ⁠And round us all the thicket rang
      To many a flute of Arcady.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 40
    • So he spoke, and it seemed there was a little halting at first, as of men not liking to take Blackbeard's name in Blackbeard's place, or raise the Devil by mocking at him. But then some of the bolder shouted 'Blackbeard', and so the more timid chimed in, and in a minute there were a score of voices...[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC
  8. (intransitive) To produce music with bells.
    • Four Bells admit Twenty-four changes in Ringing1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: […], London: […] T. N[ewcomb] for J[ohn] Martyn printer to the R[oyal] Society, […], →OCLC
  9. To ring up (enter into a cash register or till)
    • The checkout girl rang it into his total, and he paid the bill.1983, T.C. Knudsen, John Hempstead, A Man's Guide to Women
    • On presentation of the item at the checkout the original price sticker was concealed from the checkout assistant and a sticker of $38.88 exhibited on the item. The checkout operator rang on the lesser sum, a mistake known to Dronjak. He was subsequently charged with theft.1990, The New Zealand Law Reports - Volume 3, page 75
  10. (dated) To repeat often, loudly, or earnestly.

Noun (3)

ring (plural rings)

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

Noun (4)

ring (plural rings)

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

Proper noun capitalized: Ring

Ring

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a maker of rings as jewelry or as in harness.
  2. A parish of County Waterford, Ireland.
  3. An unincorporated community in the town of Nekimi, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States.

Also used as

ring is also the ellipsis of webring.

ring meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

ring in Hindi

place where some sports take place
घेरा gherā
arena where circus acts take place
घेरा gherā
circumscribing object
गोला golā, चक्र cakra, हलक़ा halqā
round piece of (precious) metal worn around the finger
अंगूठी aṅgūṭhī, छल्ला challā

ring in Tamil

circumscribing object
வலயம் valayam
round piece of (precious) metal worn around the finger
மோதிரம் mōtiram

ring in Marathi

round piece of (precious) metal worn around the finger
अंगठी aṅgṭhī, मुदी mudī, मुद्रिका mudrikā

ring in Urdu

circumscribing object
حَلْقَہ halqa
round piece of (precious) metal worn around the finger
اَن٘گُوٹھی aṅgūṭhī, چَھلّا challā
(intr.) to produce a resonant sound
بجنا bajnā
(tr.) to make something produce a resonant sound
بجانا bajānā
More languagesFewer languages
ring in Bengali
অঙ্গুরি oṅguri
ring in Telugu
గోదా gōdā, బరి bari, ఉంగరం uṅgaraṁ
ring in Malayalam
വളയം vaḷayaṁ, മോതിരം mōtiraṁ
ring in Kannada
ಉಂಗುರ uṅgura
ring in Punjabi
ਰਿੰਗ, ਰੀੰਗ, ਰਿੰਗ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
ring in Gujarati
વીંટી vī̃ṭī
ring in Odia
ରିଙ୍ଗ, ରିଙ୍ଗ୍, ରିଙ୍ଗ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
ring in Assamese
আঙুঠি aṅuthi
ring in Nepali
औंठी auṇṭhī
ring in Pashto
حلقه halqá, ګوتيى gwᶕṭye
ring in Tagalog
singsing
ring in Arabic
حَلْبَة ḥalba, رَنَّ ranna, حَلْقَة ḥalqa, خَاتَم ḵātam
ring in Malay
cincin
ring in Indonesian
cincin, komplotan, dering
ring in Persian
حَلْقِه halġe, چَنْبَرِه čanbare, اَنْگُشْتَر angoštar, زنگ zang
ring in Thai
สังเวียน sǎng-wiian, เวที wee-tii, วงแหวน wong-wɛ̌ɛn, แหวน wɛ̌ɛn
ring in Vietnamese
vòng, nhẫn, cà rá, rung
ring in Myanmar
ကွင်း kwang:, လက်စွပ် lakcwap
Dhivehi
އަނގޮޓި aⁿgoṭi

Examples of ring in a sentence

  • Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
  • It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot.1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston:
  • The parts were then fitted to salvaged cars bought online. […] Jailing the quartet, a judge at Birmingham Crown Court said it was a "car ringing on a commercial and substantial scale".2019 (10 December), Ross McCarthy, Digbeth chop shop gang jailed over £2m stolen car racket (in Birmingham Live)...

All 40 example sentences with ring

Synonyms of ring

Forms of ring

Noun
pluralrings
Verb
third-person singular presentrings
present participleringing
past participleringed
pastringed
pastrang
past participlerung
past (nonstandard)rung

Past tense of ring: rang

Plural of ring: rings

Origin of ring

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

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

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

Words formed from ring

Phrases with ring

160 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with ring

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about ring

What does ring mean?
Ring means a circumscribing object, (roughly) circular and hollow, looking like an annual ring, earring, finger ring etc.
What is ring in Hindi?
Ring in Hindi is घेरा (gherā), छल्ला (challā), गोला (golā). See Ring meaning in Hindi.
How do you use ring in a sentence?
Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.
What part of speech is ring?
Ring can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce ring?
Ring is pronounced /ɹɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of ring?
The plural of ring is rings.

Words near ring in the dictionary

  1. Riney
  2. Rineys
  3. rinforzandi
  4. rinforzando
  5. rinforzandos
  6. ring
  7. ring a bell
  8. Ring a Ring o' Roses
  9. Ring a Ring o' Rosie
  10. ring around
  11. Ring around the Rosie

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ring (page history and authors); Ring (page history and authors); ring (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ring (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ring.ogg.

Cite this entry: “ring.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ring. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.