Meaning of ring In English

• 0 a circle of any material, or any group of things or people in a circular shape or arrangement:

  • The game involved throwing metal rings over a stick.

  • The children sat in a ring around the teacher.

  • He bought her a diamond/emerald, etc. ring (= a ring with a jewel attached to it).

  • a drug ring

  • a spy ring

  • a gas ring

  • an electric ring

  • a boxing ring

  • The horses trotted round the ring.

• 1 the act of making a phone call to someone:

  • I'll give you a ring tomorrow.

• 2 the sound a bell makes:

  • There was a ring at the door.

  • He gave a ring at the door.

• 3 to make a phone call to someone:

  • I ring home once a week to tell my parents I'm okay.

  • There's been an accident - can you ring for an ambulance?

  • The boss rang (in) to say he'll be back at 4.30.

  • UK I rang round the airlines (= called many of them) to find out the cheapest price.

  • Why don't you ring (up) Simon and ask him to the party?

• 4 to (cause to) make the sound of a bell:

  • The doorbell/phone rang.

  • Anne's alarm clock rang for half an hour before she woke.

  • I rang the bell but nobody came to the door.

  • My head is/My ears are still ringing (= are full of a ringing noise) from the sound of the military band.

• 5 to surround something:

  • Armed police ringed the hijacked plane.

  • The harbour is dangerous - it's ringed by/with rocks and reefs.

  • Students should ring the correct answers in pencil.

  • We ringed the birds (= put rings around their legs) so that we could identify them later.

• 6 a circular piece, esp. of jewelry worn on a finger:

  • a gold wedding ring

  • a key ring

  • A ring of people joined hands in the dance.

• 7 a space where people perform or compete that is separated from, and usually at the center of, the space where people can watch the event:

  • a boxing ring

  • a one-ring/three-ring circus

• 8 a group of people who work together, often secretly in criminal activities:

  • a spy ring

• 9 a telephone call:

  • I’ll give Sophia a ring.

• 10 to make a sound, esp. the sound made when metal is hit, or to cause a bell to make a sound:

  • [ I ] The telephone rang.

  • [ T ] I rang the doorbell but nobody answered.

  • [ I ] My ears are ringing (= I hear a noise that is not really there).

• 11 to surround something:

  • The island is ringed with rocks.

• 12 to call someone on the phone:

  • If he's out of the office, ring his mobile.

  • I rang a few stockbrokers to see what they would recommend.

  • When someone rings up, we can make provisional approval for a loan within five minutes.

  • ring (sb) about/for sth The price of insurance can depend on when you ring for a quote.

• 13 if a phone rings, it makes a sound because someone is calling:

  • The phone was ringing.

  • My phone didn't ring all morning.

• 14 used to describe a situation in which there are a lot of sales or a big profit is being made:

  • Consumers are ringing cash registers at a steady pace, incomes are on the rise, and exports are rocketing.

  • Cash registers were ringing across the nation over the Christmas period.

• 15 if a phone is ringing off the hook, it rings a lot of times:

  • His phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from people who want him to do work for them.

• 16 a group of people working together illegally:

  • a drugs/smuggling/betting ring

• 17 the part of a stock exchange or commodity exchange (= place where oil, metal, grain, coffee, etc. are traded) where the buying and selling takes place:

  • Some commodity markets still have a trading floor or ring.

• 18 to call someone on the phone:

  • If we can be of any further assistance please give us a ring.