Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - ring

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English h~; akin to Old High German h~ ~, Old Church Slavic krogu circle  Date: before 12th century  1. a circular band for holding, connecting, hanging, pulling, packing, or sealing a key ~ a towel ~  2. a circlet usually of precious metal worn especially on the finger  3.  a. a circular line, figure, or object smoke ~  b. an encircling arrangement a ~ of suburbs  c. a circular or spiral course — often used figuratively in plural in the phrase run ~s around to describe surpassing an opponent decisively  4.  a.  (1) an often circular space especially for exhibitions or competitions; especially such a space at a circus  (2) a structure containing such a ~  b. a square enclosure in which a fighting contest (as a boxing or wrestling match) takes place  5. a band of small objects revolving around a planet (as Saturn) and composed of dust and icy or rocky fragments  6. annual ~  7.  a. an exclusive combination of persons for a selfish and often corrupt purpose (as to control a market) a wheat ~  b. gang  8. the field of a political contest ; race  9. food in the shape of a circle  10. an arrangement of atoms represented in formulas or models in a cyclic manner — called also cycle  11. a set of mathematical elements that is closed under two binary operations of which the first forms a commutative group with the set and the second is associative over the set and is distributive with respect to the first operation  12. plural  a. a pair of usually rubber-covered metal ~s suspended from a ceiling or crossbar to a height of approximately eight feet above the floor and used for hanging, swinging, and balancing feats in gymnastics  b. an event in gymnastics competition in which the ~s are used  13. boxing I ended his ~ career  • ~like adjective  II. verb  (~ed; ~ing)  Date: 14th century  transitive verb  1. to provide with a ~  2. to place or form a ~ around ; encircle police ~ed the building  3. girdle 2  4. to throw a ~er over (the peg) in a game (as horseshoes or quoits)  intransitive verb  1.  a. to move in a ~  b. to rise in the air spirally  2. to form or take the shape of a ~  III. verb  (rang; rung; ~ing)  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English h~an; akin to Old Norse h~ja to ~  Date: before 12th century  intransitive verb  1. to sound resonantly or sonorously the doorbell rang cheers rang out  2.  a. to be filled with a reverberating sound ; resound the halls rang with laughter  b. to have the sensation of being filled with a humming sound his ears rang  3. to cause something to ~ ~ for the butler  4.  a. to be filled with talk or report the whole land rang with her fame  b. to have great renown  c. to sound repetitiously their praise rang in his ears  5. to have a sound or character expressive of some quality a story that ~s true  6. chiefly British to make a telephone call — usually used with up  transitive verb  1. to cause to sound especially by striking  2. to make (a sound) by or as if by ~ing a bell  3. to announce by or as if by ~ing  4. to repeat often, loudly, or earnestly  5.  a. to summon especially by bell  b. chiefly British telephone — usually used with up  IV. noun  Date: 1549  1. a set of bells  2. a clear resonant sound made by or resembling that made by vibrating metal  3. resonant tone ; sonority  4. a loud sound continued, repeated, or reverberated  5. a sound or character expressive of some particular quality the story had a familiar ~  6.  a. the act or an instance of ~ing  b. a telephone call give me a ~ in the morning