ring

noun, verb-see also RING

jewellery 1 [C] a piece of jewellery that you wear on your finger, consisting of a circular band of gold, silver, etc., sometimes decorated with precious stones: a gold ring * A large diamond glittered on her ring finger (= the finger next to the little finger, especially on the left hand). seealsoENGAGEMENTRING, SIGNETRING, WEDDINGRING circle 2 [C] an object in the shape of a circle with a large hole in the middle: a key ring * curtain rings * onion rings 3 [C] a circular mark or shape: She had dark rings around her eyes from lack of sleep. * The children sat on the floor in a ring. for performance / competition 4 [C] an enclosed area in which animals or people perform or compete, with seats around the outside for the audience: a boxing ring * a circus ring * The next competitor rode into the ring. seealsoBULLRING for cooking 5 [C] (especially BrE) a small flat plate on a cooker/stove that is heated by gas or electricity and is used for cooking on SYNBURNER: to turn off the gas ring group of people 6 [C] a group of people who are working together, especially in secret or illegally: a spy ring * a drugs ring IDIOMS run rings around / round sb (informal) to be much better at doing sth than sb else: I used to beat my son at chess but now he runs rings around me. moreatHAT

(ringed, ringed) [VN] surround 1 [oftenpassive] ~ sb/sth (with sth) to surround sb/sth: Thousands of demonstrators ringed the building. bird's leg 2 to put a metal ring around a bird's leg so that it can be easily identified in the future draw circle 3 (especially BrE) to draw a circle around sth SYNCIRCLE: Ring the correct answer in pencil. verb, noun-see also RING verb (rang ) telephone 1 (BrE) (also call AmE, BrE) ~ sb/sth (up) to telephone sb/sth: [VN] I'll ring you up later. * He rang up the police station. * When is the best time to ring New York? * [V] David rang up while you were out. * He said he was ringing from London. * I'm ringing about your advertisement in the paper. * Could you ring for a cab? * She rang to say she'd be late. -< PHONE 2 [V] (of a telephone) to make a sound because sb is trying to telephone you: Will you answer the telephone if it rings? bell 3 if you ring a bell or if a bell rings, it produces a sound: [VN] Someone was ringing the doorbell. * [V] The church bells rang. * The doorbell rang loudly. * Just ring for the nurse (= attract the nurse's attention by ringing a bell) if you need her. with sound 4 [V] ~ (with sth) (literary) to be full of a sound; to fill a place with sound: The house rang with children's laughter. * Applause rang through the hall. with quality 5 [V] to be full of a particular quality: His words rang with pride. of ears 6 [V] to be uncomfortable and be unable to hear clearly, usually because you have heard a loud noise, etc: The music was so loud it made my ears ring. IDIOMS ring a bell (informal) to sound familiar to you, as though you have heard it before: His name rings a bell but I can't think where we met. ring the changes (with sth) (BrE) to make changes to sth in order to have greater variety: Ring the changes with a new colour. ring in your ears / head to make you feel that you can still hear sth: His warning was still ringing in my ears. ring off the hook (usually used in the progressive tenses) (AmE) (of a telephone) to ring many times: The phone has been ringing off the hook with offers of help. ring true / hollow / false to give the impression of being sincere/true or not sincere/true: It may seem a strange story but it rings true to me. moreatALARMn. PHRASALVERBS ring back