ring
A small circular band, usually worn on a finger.
Ring has several meanings that you'll encounter often:
- A circular band worn on your finger, often made of metal or other materials. People wear rings for decoration, to show they're married, or to mark important relationships. Championship rings celebrate winning a title. A ring might hold a precious stone like a diamond, or it might be simple metal. The Lord of the Rings takes its name from magical rings that characters seek and struggle over.
- Any circular or round shape. Tree rings show a tree's age, with each ring representing one year of growth. When you drop a pebble in water, rings spread outward across the surface. Saturn's rings are billions of ice particles orbiting the planet in flat, circular bands. A ring of students might gather in a circle around a teacher.
- A space for competition or performance, usually enclosed by ropes or barriers. Boxers face each other in a boxing ring. Circus performers do tricks in a center ring while audiences watch from all sides. People sometimes say they're throwing their hat in the ring when they decide to compete for something.
- The sound a bell makes, or to make that sound. A doorbell rings when someone presses it. Your phone rings when someone calls. Church bells ring on Sunday mornings. You might ring a bell to get someone's attention. When something rings true, it sounds honest or correct, like recognizing truth the way you'd recognize a familiar bell.