ring2
verb/rɪŋ/
/rɪŋ/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they ring | /rɪŋ/ /rɪŋ/ |
| he / she / it rings | /rɪŋz/ /rɪŋz/ |
| past simple rang | /ræŋ/ /ræŋ/ |
| past participle rung | /rʌŋ/ /rʌŋ/ |
| -ing form ringing | /ˈrɪŋɪŋ/ /ˈrɪŋɪŋ/ |
- (British English) (also call North American English, British English)[transitive, intransitive] to phone somebody/something
- ring somebody/something up I'll ring you up later.
- He rang up the police station.
- ring somebody/something When is the best time to ring New York?
- I'll ring you later.
- Concerned residents can write or ring my office.
- ring (up) David rang up while you were out.
- He said he was ringing from London.
- I'm ringing about your advertisement in the paper.
- She rang to say she'd be late.
- ring for something Could you ring for a cab?
- We rang for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.
British/American phone / call / ringphone / call / ringVerbsTopics Phones, email and the interneta2- In British English, to phone, to ring and to call are the usual ways of saying to telephone. In North American English the most common word is call, but phone is also used. Speakers of North American English do not say ring. Telephone is formal and is used mainly in British English.
- You can use call or phone call (more formal) in both British English and North American English:
- Were there any phone calls for me?
- How do I make a local call?
- I’ll give you a call tonight.
- I’ll give you a ring tonight.
- [intransitive] (of a phone) to make a sound because somebody is trying to phone you
- Will you answer the telephone if it rings?
- The phone rang and rang (= rang for a long time) until eventually someone answered.
- I'm just waiting for the phone to ring.
- [transitive, intransitive] if you ring a bell or if a bell rings, it produces a sound
- ring (something) Someone was ringing the doorbell.
- The church bells rang.
- The doorbell rang loudly.
- ring for somebody/something Just ring for the nurse (= attract the nurse's attention by ringing a bell) if you need her.
- She climbed out of bed and rang for her maid.
- [intransitive] ring (with something) (literary) to be full of a sound; to fill a place with sound synonym resound
- The house rang with children's laughter.
- Applause rang through the hall.
- [intransitive] ring (with something) to be full of a particular quality
- His words rang with pride.
- [intransitive] to be uncomfortable and be unable to hear clearly, usually because you have heard a loud noise, etc.
- The music was so loud it made my ears ring.
phone
bell
with sound
with quality
of ears
Word OriginOld English hringan, of Germanic origin, perhaps imitative.
Idioms
See ring in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee ring in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishalarm bells ring/are ringing
- if you say that alarm bells are ringing, you mean that people are starting to feel worried and to suspect that something is wrong
- The government’s proposal has set alarm bells ringing for people on low incomes.
ring a bell
- (informal) to sound familiar to you, as though you have heard it before
- His name rings a bell but I can't think where we met.
ring the changes (with something)
- (British English) to make changes to something in order to have greater variety
- Ring the changes with a new colour.
ring in your ears/head
- to make you feel that you can still hear something
- His warning was still ringing in my ears.
ring off the hook
- (usually used in the progressive tenses) (of a phone) to ring many times, with one phone call after another
- The phone has been ringing off the hook with offers of help.
ring true/hollow/false
- to give the impression of being sincere/true or not sincere/true
- It may seem a strange story but it rings true to me.
- His expressions of support rang rather hollow.
- His promise rang hollow.
Check pronunciation:
ring2