ring

1 /rIN/ noun

1 JEWELLERY (C) a piece of jewellery that you wear on your finger: a diamond ring (=decorated with diamonds)

—see also: engagement ring, wedding ring

2 CIRCLE (C)

a) a circular line or mark: Martha had dark rings round her eyes from too many sleepless nights.

b) an object in the shape of a circle: curtain rings | piston rings | Slice the onions into rings.

c) a group of people or things arranged in a circle: A ring of armed troops surrounded the building.

3 BELLS (C) the sound made by a bell or the act of making this sound: He gave several loud rings at the door.

4 give sb a ring BrE informal to make a telephone call to someone: I'll give you a ring later in the week.

5 CRIMINALS (C) a group of people who illegally control a business or criminal activity: drugs/spy ring: Police suspect a drug ring may be operating in the area. | revelations of a massive spy ring

6 have a ring of truth to seem likely to be true: Mrs Datchet's story had a ring of truth about it.

7 have a familiar ring if something has a familiar ring, you feel that you have heard it before: Jerry's excuse had a strangely familiar ring.

8 run rings around informal to be able to do something much better than someone else can: My five-year-old can run rings around me on the computer.

9 COOKING (C) especially BrE one of the circular areas on top of a cooker that is heated by gas or electricity

10 SPORT/ENTERTAINMENT

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

b) a large circular area surrounded by seats at a circus

c) the ring the sport of boxing: He retired from the ring at 34.

2 verb past tense rang past participle rung /rVN/

1 BELL

a) (T) to make a bell make a sound: I rang the doorbell but no-one came.

b) (I) if a bell rings, it makes a noise: At that moment, the bell rang for lunch.

c) (I) to ring a bell to call someone to serve you

(+ for): Ring for service.

2 SOUNDS (I)

a) to make a high continuous sound: Tap the glass gently, and you'll hear it ring.

b) your ears ring after you have been somewhere very noisy or heard a loud sound: The explosion made our ears ring.

c) literary if a place rings with a sound it is full of that sound: The courtyard rang with the sound of horses' hooves.

3 TELEPHONE

a) (I, T) BrE to make a telephone call to someone; call 1 (7) especially AmE: I rang you yesterday but you weren't in. | Ring for information.

(+ for): Sally rang for a taxi. —see telephone 1

b) (I) if a telephone rings, it makes a sound to show that someone is phoning you: The phone hasn't stopped ringing all day.

4 ring a bell informal if something rings a bell, you think you have heard it before: Her name rings a bell but I can't remember her face.

5 not ring true if something does not ring true, you do not believe it, even though you are not sure why: It was a clever excuse but it didn't really ring true.

6 ring the changes to make changes to something, not because it needs changing but just in order to make it more interesting, more attractive etc: It's easy to ring the changes in your living room with some new cushion covers.

7 ring hollow if words ring hollow, you do not feel that they are true or sincere: Their expressions of sympathy rang hollow.

8 ring in your ears if a sound or remark rings in your ears, you seem to continue to hear it after it has finished: She went out, his cruel laughter ringing in her ears.

ring back phrasal verb (intransitive, transitive ring someone back) BrE to telephone someone again, for example because you were not available when they telephoned you: John rang, and he wants you to ring him back. ring in phrasal verb

1 (I) BrE to telephone the place where you work: Jane's rung in to say she'll be late.

2 ring in the New Year to celebrate the beginning of the New Year by ringing church bells

ring off phrasal verb (I) BrE to end a telephone call: He rang off without giving his name. ring out phrasal verb

1 (I) a voice, bell etc that rings out it is loud and clear: The sound of a shot rang out.

2 ring out the Old Year to celebrate the end of the year by ringing church bells

ring round phrasal verb (I, T) BrE to make telephone calls to a group of people, in order to organize something, find out information etc: I'll ring round to see whether anyone's interested in coming with us. ring sth/sb up phrasal verb

1 (intransitive, transitive ring someone up) BrE to telephone someone: I'll ring the manager up tomorrow.

2 (transitive ring something up) to press buttons on a cash register to record how much money is being put inside: The cashier rang up $300 by mistake.

3 verb past tense and past participle ringed (T)

1 to surround something: Police marksmen ringed the office block. | ring sth with: Her fair hair was ringed with light.

2 to draw a circular mark around something: Ring the mistakes in red.

3 to put a metal ring around a bird's leg