What does ring mean?

What does ring mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does ring mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] a characteristic sound(it has the ring of sincerity)[v] sound loudly and sonorously(the bells rang)[n] a toroidal shape(a ring of ships in the harbor a halo of smoke)[v] ring or echo with sound(the hall resounded with laughter)[n] a rigid circular band of metal or wood or other materia

ring

ring - The Free Dictionary

[n] a characteristic sound
(it has the ring of sincerity)

[v] sound loudly and sonorously
(the bells rang)

[n] a toroidal shape
(a ring of ships in the harbor a halo of smoke)

[v] ring or echo with sound
(the hall resounded with laughter)

[n] a rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling
(there was still a rusty iron hoop for tying a horse)

[v] make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification
(Ring the bells My uncle rings every Sunday at the local church)

[n] (chemistry) a chain of atoms in a molecule that forms a closed loop

[v] get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone
(I tried to call you all night Take two aspirin and call me in the morning)

[n] an association of criminals
(police tried to break up the gang a pack of thieves)

[v] extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
(The forest surrounds my property)

[n] the sound of a bell ringing
(the distinctive ring of the church bell the ringing of the telephone the tintinnabulation that so voluminously swells from the ringing and the dinging of the bells)

[v] attach a ring to the foot of, in order to identify
(ring birds band the geese to observe their migratory patterns)

[n] a platform usually marked off by ropes in which contestants box or wrestle

[n] jewelry consisting of a circlet of precious metal (often set with jewels) worn on the finger
(she had rings on every finger he noted that she wore a wedding band)

[n] a strip of material attached to the leg of a bird to identify it (as in studies of bird migration)

Other vocabulary

r, r and b, r-2, r. b. cattell, r. buckminster fuller, r. j. mitchell, r.c., r.v., ra, rabat, rabato, rabbet, rabbet joint, rabbet plane, rabbi, rabbi moses ben maimon, rabbinate, rabbinic, rabbinical, rabbit, rabbit bandicoot, rabbit brush, rabbit burrow, rabbit bush, rabbit ears, rabbit fever, rabbit food, rabbit hole, rabbit hutch, rabbit on, i, i chronicles, i corinthians, i esdra, i john, i kings, i maccabees, i peter, i samuel, i thessalonians, i timothy, i-beam, i. a. richards, i. f. stone, i. m. pei, i.d., i.e., i.e.d., i.q., i.w.w., ia, iaa, iaea, iago, iamb, iambic, iambus, ian douglas smith, ian fleming, ian lancaster fleming

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.