rings

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ring1

▶noun

• 1 a small circular band, typically of precious metal, worn on a finger as an ornament or as a token of marriage, engagement, or authority.

• 2 a circular band, article, or mark.

  ■ a thin band of rock and ice particles round a planet.

  ■ chiefly Brit. a flat circular heating device forming part of a gas or electric hob.

  ■ Archaeology a circular prehistoric earthwork, typically consisting of a bank and ditch.

• 3 an enclosed space in which a sport, performance, or show takes place.

• 4 a circle of people or things.

  ■ a group of people engaged in a shared enterprise, especially one involving illegal activity: a drug ring.

• 5 Chemistry a number of atoms bonded together to form a closed loop in a molecule.

• 6 Mathematics a set of elements with two binary operations, addition and multiplication, the second being distributive over the first and associative.

▶verb

• 1 surround.

  ■ chiefly Brit. draw a circle round.

• 2 Brit. Ornithology put an identifying strip around the leg of (a bird).

• 3 put a circular band through the nose of (a bull, pig, etc.) to lead or control it.

• 4 informal fraudulently change the identity of (a motor vehicle).

– phrases
hold the ring monitor a dispute or conflict without becoming involved.
run (or make) rings round (or around) informal outclass or outwit (someone) easily.

– derivatives
ringed adjective,
ringless adjective.

– origin OE hring, of Gmc origin; rel. to rank1.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ring2

▶verb (past rang; past part. rung)

• 1 make or cause to make a clear resonant or vibrating sound.

  ■ (of a telephone) ring repeatedly to signal an incoming call.

  ■ call for attention by sounding a bell.

  ■ (often ring with) reverberate with a sound.

  ■ (of the ears) be filled with a buzzing or humming sound due to a blow or loud noise.

  ■ (ring something up) record an amount on a cash register.

• 2 Brit. call by telephone.

  ■ (ring off) end a telephone call by replacing the receiver.

• 3 sound (the hour, a peal, etc.) on a bell or bells.

  ■ (ring someone/thing in or out) usher someone or something in (or out) by or as if by ringing a bell.

• 4 (ring with) be filled with (a quality).

  ■ convey a specified impression or quality: the author's honesty rings true.

▶noun

• 1 an act of ringing.

  ■ a loud clear sound or tone.

• 2 Brit. informal a telephone call.

• 3 a quality conveyed by something heard: the tale had a ring of truth.

• 4 a set of bells, especially church bells.

– phrases
ring down (or up) the curtain

• 1 lower (or raise) a theatre curtain.

• 2 mark the end (or beginning) of something.

– origin OE hringan, of Gmc origin, perh. imitative.