ring2

[ring] /rɪŋ/
verb (used without object), rang, rung, ringing.
1.
to give forth a clear resonant sound, as a bell when struck:
The doorbell rang twice.
2.
to make a given impression on the mind; appear:
words that rang false; a story that rings true.
3.
to cause a bell or bells to sound, especially as a summons:
Just ring if you need anything.
4.
to sound loudly; be loud or resonant; resound (often followed by out):
His brave words rang out.
5.
to be filled with sound; reecho with sound, as a place.
6.
(of the ears) to have the sensation of a continued humming sound.
7.
Chiefly British. to telephone.
verb (used with object), rang, rung, ringing.
8.
to cause (a bell or device with a bell) to ring; sound by striking:
to ring a bell.
9.
to produce (sound) by or as if by ringing:
The bell rang a low tone.
10.
to announce or proclaim, usher in or out, summon, signal, etc., by or as if by the sound of a bell:
to ring someone's praises; The bell rang the hour.
11.
to test (a coin or other metal object) by the sound it produces when struck against something.
12.
Chiefly British. to telephone.
noun
13.
a ringing sound, as of a bell or bells:
the ring of sleigh bells.
14.
a sound or tone likened to the ringing of a bell:
Rings of laughter issued from the school.
15.
any loud sound; sound continued, repeated, or reverberated:
the ring of iron upon stone.
16.
a set or peal of bells.
17.
a telephone call:
Give me a ring tomorrow.
18.
an act or instance of ringing a bell:
No one answered my ring.
19.
a characteristic sound, as of a coin.
20.
the aspect or impression presented by a statement, an action, etc., taken as revealing a specified inherent quality:
a ring of assurance in her voice; the ring of truth; a false ring.
Verb phrases
21.
ring in,
  1. to indicate one's arrival at work by punching in on a time clock.
  2. Informal. to introduce artfully or fraudulently:
    to ring in an imposter.
22.
ring off,
  1. to terminate a telephone conversation.
  2. British Slang. to stop talking.
  3. British Slang. to go away.
23.
ring out,
  1. to indicate one's departure from work by punching out on a time clock.
  2. to make a sound or noise; resound:
    The church bells rang out.
24.
ring up,
  1. to register (the amount of a sale) on a cash register.
  2. to accomplish or record:
    to ring up a series of successes.
  3. Chiefly British. to telephone.
Idioms
25.
ring a bell. bell1 (def 15).
26.
ring down the curtain,
  1. to direct that the curtain of a theater be lowered or closed.
  2. to lower or close the curtain in front of a stage.
27.
ring down the curtain on, to bring to an end:
The accident rang down the curtain on his law career.
28.
ring the / someone's bell. bell1 (def 16).
29.
ring the changes. change (def 38).
30.
ring up the curtain,
  1. to direct that the curtain of a theater be raised or opened.
  2. to raise or open the curtain in front of a stage.
31.
ring up the curtain on, to begin; inaugurate; initiate:
The $100-a-plate dinner rang up the curtain on the hospital's fund-raising drive.
Origin
before 900; Middle English ringen, Old English hringan; cognate with Old Norse hringja, German ringen
Related forms
ringingly, adverb
ringingness, noun
Synonyms
20. sound, tone, quality.
British Dictionary definitions for ring down the curtain on

ring1

/rɪŋ/
noun
1.
a circular band usually of a precious metal, esp gold, often set with gems and worn upon the finger as an adornment or as a token of engagement or marriage
2.
any object or mark that is circular in shape
3.
a circular path or course: to run around in a ring
4.
a group of people or things standing or arranged so as to form a circle: a ring of spectators
5.
an enclosed space, usually circular in shape, where circus acts are performed
6.
a square apron or raised platform, marked off by ropes, in which contestants box or wrestle
7.
the ring, the sport of boxing
8.
the field of competition or rivalry
9.
throw one's hat in the ring, to announce one's intention to be a candidate or contestant
10.
a group of people usually operating illegally and covertly: a drug ring, a paedophile ring
11.
(esp at country fairs) an enclosure, often circular, where horses, cattle, and other livestock are paraded and auctioned
12.
an area reserved for betting at a racecourse
13.
a circular strip of bark cut from a tree or branch, esp in order to kill it
14.
a single turn in a spiral
15.
(geometry) the area of space lying between two concentric circles
16.
(maths) a set that is subject to two binary operations, addition and multiplication, such that the set is an Abelian group under addition and is closed under multiplication, this latter operation being associative
17.
(botany) short for annual ring
18.
(chem) Also called closed chain. a closed loop of atoms in a molecule
19.
(astronomy) any of the thin circular bands of small bodies orbiting a giant planet, esp Saturn See also Saturn2 (sense 1)
20.
(informal) run rings around, to be greatly superior to; outclass completely
verb (transitive) rings, ringing, ringed
21.
to surround with or as if with or form a ring; encircle
22.
to mark (a bird) with a ring or clip for subsequent identification
23.
to fit a ring in the nose of (a bull, pig, etc) so that it can be led easily
24.
Also ringbark
  1. to cut away a circular strip of bark from (a tree or branch) in order to kill it
  2. to cut a narrow or partial ring from (the trunk of a tree) in order to check or prevent vigorous growth
25.
(Austral & NZ) to be the fastest shearer in a shearing shed (esp in the phrase ring the shed)
Word Origin
Old English hring; related to Old Norse hringr

ring2

/rɪŋ/
verb rings, ringing, rang, rung
1.
to emit or cause to emit a sonorous or resonant sound, characteristic of certain metals when struck
2.
to cause (a bell) to emit a ringing sound by striking it once or repeatedly or (of a bell) to emit such a sound
3.
  1. (transitive) to cause (a large bell, esp a church bell) to emit a ringing sound by pulling on a rope that is attached to a wheel on which the bell swings back and forth, being sounded by a clapper inside it Compare chime1 (sense 6)
  2. (intransitive) (of a bell) to sound by being swung in this way
4.
(intransitive) (of a building, place, etc) to be filled with sound; echo: the church rang with singing
5.
(intransitive) foll by for. to call by means of a bell, buzzer, etc: to ring for the butler
6.
(mainly Brit) Also ring up. to call (a person) by telephone
7.
(transitive) to strike or tap (a coin) in order to assess its genuineness by the sound produced
8.
(intransitive) (of the ears) to have or give the sensation of humming or ringing
9.
(intransitive) (electronics) (of an electric circuit) to produce a damped oscillatory wave after the application of a sharp input transition
10.
(slang) to change the identity of (a stolen vehicle) by using the licence plate, serial number, etc, of another, usually disused, vehicle
11.
ring a bell, to sound familiar; remind one of something, esp indistinctly
12.
ring down the curtain
  1. to lower the curtain at the end of a theatrical performance
  2. (foll by on) to put an end (to)
13.
ring false, to give the impression of being false
14.
ring the bell
  1. to do, say, or be the right thing
  2. to reach the pinnacle of success or happiness
15.
ring the changes, to vary the manner or performance of an action that is often repeated
16.
ring true, to give the impression of being true: that story doesn't ring true
noun
17.
the act of or a sound made by ringing
18.
a sound produced by or suggestive of a bell
19.
any resonant or metallic sound, esp one sustained or re-echoed: the ring of trumpets
20.
(informal, mainly Brit) a telephone call: he gave her a ring last night
21.
the complete set of bells in a tower or belfry: a ring of eight bells See peal1 (sense 3)
22.
an inherent quality or characteristic: his explanation has the ring of sincerity
23.
(electronics) the damped oscillatory wave produced by a circuit that rings
See also ring back, ring in, ring off, ring out, ring up
Usage note
Rang and sang are the correct forms of the past tenses of ring and sing, although rung and sung are still heard informally and dialectally: he rung (rang) the bell
Word Origin
Old English hringan; related to Old High German hringen Old Norse hringja
Word Origin and History for ring down the curtain on

ring

n.

"circular band," Old English hring "small circlet, especially one of metal for wearing on the finger or as part of a mail coat; anything circular," from Proto-Germanic *khrengaz (cf. Old Norse hringr, Old Frisian hring, Danish, Swedish, Dutch ring, Old High German hring, German Ring), literally "something curved," from PIE *skrengh- nasalized form of (s)kregh-, from root *(s)ker- "to turn, bend," with wide-ranging derivative senses (cf. Latin curvus "bent, curved," crispus "curly;" Old Church Slavonic kragu "circle," and perhaps Greek kirkos "ring," koronos "curved").

Other Old English senses were "circular group of persons," also "horizon." Meaning "place for prize fight and wrestling bouts" (early 14c.) is from the space in a circle of bystanders in the midst of which such contests once were held, "... a circle formed for boxers, wrestlers, and cudgel players, by a man styled Vinegar; who, with his hat before his eyes, goes round the circle, striking at random with his whip to prevent the populace from crowding in" [Grose, 1788]. Meaning "combination of interested persons" is from 1829. Of trees, from 1670s; fairy ring is from 1620s. Ring finger is Old English hringfingr, a compound found in other Germanic languages. To run rings round (someone) "be superior to" is from 1891.

Nursery rhyme ring a ring a rosie is attested in an American form (with a different ending) from c.1790. "The belief that the rhyme originated with the Great Plague is now almost universal, but has no evidence to support it and is almost certainly nonsense" ["Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore"]. This proposal of connection dates only to the late 1960s.

1540s, "set of church bells," from ring (v.1). Meaning "a call on the telephone" is from 1900; to give (someone) a ring "call on the telephone" was in use by 1910. Meaning "a ringing tone" is from 1620s; specifically "the ringing sound made by a telephone" by 1951. Meaning "resonance of coin or glass as a test of genuineness" is from 1850, with transferred use (ring of truth, etc.).

v.

"sound a bell," Old English hringan "sound, give a certain resonant sound when struck; announce by bells," from Proto-Germanic *khrenganan (cf. Old Norse hringja, Swedish ringa, Middle Dutch ringen), probably of imitative origin. Related: Rang; rung. Originally a weak verb, strong inflexion began in early Middle English by influence of sing, etc. To ring down a theatrical curtain is from 1772, from the custom of signaling for it by ringing a bell. To ring up a purchase on a cash register is by 1937, from the bell that sounded. Specialized sense "give a resonant sound when struck as an indication of genuineness or purity," with transferred use (e.g. to ring hollow) is from 1610s.

"make a circle around," Old English ymbhringan, from the root of ring (n.1). Intransitive sense "gather in a ring" is mid-15c. Sense of "provide or attach a ring" is late 14c. Meaning "move in a circle around" is from 1825. Related: Ringed; ringing. Cf. Frisian ringje, Middle Dutch and Dutch ringen, Old High German ringan, German ringen, Old Norse hringa, hringja.

ring down the curtain on in Medicine

ring (rĭng)
n.

  1. A circular object, form, or arrangement with a vacant circular center.

  2. The area between two concentric circles; annulus.

  3. A group of atoms linked by bonds that may be represented graphically in circular or triangular form.

ring down the curtain on in Science
ring
  (rĭng)   

  1. A set of elements subject to the operations of addition and multiplication, in which the set is an abelian group under addition and associative under multiplication and in which the two operations are related by distributive laws.

  2. A group of atoms linked by bonds that may be represented graphically in circular or triangular form. Benzene, for example, contains a ring of six carbon atoms. All cyclic compounds contain one or more rings. See annulus.

  3. See growth ring.


Slang definitions & phrases for ring down the curtain on

ring

verb
  1. To substitute one horse illegally for another in a race: to attempt ringing (1812+ Horse racing)
  2. (also ring up) To call on the telephone; GIVE someone A RING: I rang him the next day, but he was out (1940s+, variant 1880+)
Related Terms

throw one's hat in the ring


ring down the curtain on in the Bible

Used as an ornament to decorate the fingers, arms, wrists, and also the ears and the nose. Rings were used as a signet (Gen. 38:18). They were given as a token of investment with authority (Gen. 41:42; Esther 3:8-10; 8:2), and of favour and dignity (Luke 15:22). They were generally worn by rich men (James 2:2). They are mentioned by Isiah (3:21) among the adornments of Hebrew women.

Idioms and Phrases with ring down the curtain on

ring down the curtain on

Bring something to an end, as in We'd best get to that grand old hotel before they ring down the curtain on it. This idiom alludes to the old practice of signaling that a theater curtain be lowered at the ring of a bell. Similarly, ring up the curtain on refers to a bell rung to begin a performance and came to mean starting anything, as in Their contribution rang up the curtain on the fund drive. The figurative use of these terms dates from the early 1900s.

ring

also see: