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Definition of ring-a-ring o’ roses noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

ring-a-ring o’ roses

noun
 
/ˌrɪŋ ə ˌrɪŋ ə ˈrəʊzɪz/
 
/ˌrɪŋ ə ˌrɪŋ ə ˈrəʊzɪz/
(British English)
(North American English ring around the rosy
 
/ˌrɪŋ əˌraʊnd ðə ˈrəʊzi/
 
/ˌrɪŋ əˌraʊnd ðə ˈrəʊzi/
)
[uncountable]
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  1. a singing game played by children, in which the players hold hands and dance in a circle, falling down at the end of the songTopics Games and toysc2
    Word Originsaid to refer to the inflamed (“rose-coloured”) ring of buboes, symptomatic of the plague; the final part of the game is symbolic of death.
trait
noun
 
 
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