ring

Everyday

1. A ring is a round band, like one worn on a finger. tree →
2. A ring is a circle shape: sit in a ring, the rings of a tree, Saturn's rings. tree →
3. To ring is to make a bell sound, or a bell rings. tree →
4. To ring someone (UK) is to phone them. tree →
5. A ring is a place for boxing or a circus. tree →
6. To ring something (past ringed) is to draw a circle around it. tree →

In the lessons

In maths: things counted (rings, onion rings), the rings of a bell, or a circle; a bell that rings every so many minutes; ring-toss games. In science: tree rings show the age of a tree (one ring each year); Saturn's rings are made of ice and rock. In everyday life: the doorbell rings, ring a friend. In stories: a magic ring, a ring of fairies.

Examples

• She has 6 rings on her fingers. tree →
• The bell rings every 45 minutes. tree →
• A ring costs $35. tree →
• He tossed 10 rings and 4 landed on the peg. tree →
• Count the rings to find how old the tree is. tree →
• Saturn has wide, bright rings. tree →
• The children sat in a ring on the carpet. tree →
• I'll ring you after school. tree →
• Ring the right answer with your pencil. tree →
• The phone rang three times. tree →

Note

Things counted or an event that repeats every so many minutes (division of time). Trap: «the bell rang 3 times» counts rings, not hours. Forms: ring, rang, rung for sounds; ringed for drawing circles. Homophone: wring (to twist water out). Tree rings: one ring for each year of growth.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah rings are gold or other metal loops. They were used for jewellery and for holding the carrying poles of the ark and the table in the Tabernacle.

Interpretation. The rings held the poles, which were never to be taken out of the ark. Tradition says this showed the Torah must always be ready to travel with Israel.

Examples

• And I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. (Torah GEN.24.47, JPS 1917) tree →
• Close by the border were the rings, the holders for the staves to bear the table. (Torah EXO.37.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. (Torah EXO.25.15, JPS 1917) tree →
• Canst thou put a ring into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a hook? (Writings JOB.40.26, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. (Writings EST.8.2, JPS 1917) tree →
• As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman that turneth aside from discretion. (Writings PRO.11.22, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Things counted or an event that repeats every so many minutes (division of time). Trap: «the bell rang 3 times» counts rings, not hours. Forms: ring, rang, rung for sounds; ringed for drawing circles. Homophone: wring (to twist water out). Tree rings: one ring for each year of growth.