▪ I. ringing, vbl. n.1
(ˈrɪŋɪŋ)
[f. ring v.1]
1. a. The act of providing with a ring or rings; spec. the putting of a ring in the nose of a bull or a pig (cf. ring v.1 6), or of securing a numbered ring on a bird or a bat.
| 1483–4 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 415 Pro le ryngyng unius paris rotarum. 1573 Tusser Husb. xvi. 32 Yet surely ringing [of swine] is needefull and good. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. ii. 307 As wise as Ringing of a Pig, That uses to break up ground and Dig. 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. Digest 41 If [oxen are] ungovernable, reclaim them with nose-rings; the operation of ringing is very simple. 1851 H. Stephens Bk. Farm (ed. 2) II. 181/2 It is nothing uncommon to see the ringing of a bull delayed, until..he must be led by it for some particular purpose. 1910 British Birds III. p. iii, There is every indication that facts of the utmost interest and importance will be brought to light by the ringing of birds. 1953 Lockley & Russell Bird-Ringing i. 5 It was in 1899 that Herr Christian C. Mortensen laid the foundations of scientific bird-ringing when he placed his first aluminium rings, stamped with numbers, on the legs of young starlings. 1958 Listener 30 Oct. 684/2 For our first attempt at bat-ringing..my wife and I and a friend climbed up into the roof of a barn..where we knew there was a colony of bats. 1978 P. Conder RSPB Guide to Birdwatching 101 The Protection of Birds Act 1967, prohibits ringing except under licence issued by the Nature Conservancy Council through the British Trust for Ornithology. |
b. Ring-like ornamentation.
| 1885 H. O. Forbes Wand. E. Archipelago 203 The ringing on the arms, which the natives call bracelets. |
† 2. ? Playing at quoits. Obs.—1
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. 342 Many other sports and recreations there be, much in vse, as Ringing, Bowling, shooting... Riding of great horses, running at ring,..are the disports of greater men. |
3. a. The operation or practice of cutting a ring of bark from a tree; girdling.
| 1817 Hort. Soc. Trans. II. 266 The fruit in consequence of ringing, or annular excision, becomes much larger. 1824 Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) 416 The effect of ringing has been perfectly well known..since Du Hamel's time. 1884 Australasian 8 Nov. 875/2 As the object is to kill the tree, ringing should be carried out when the sap is up. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1832 Planting (L.U.K.) 7 Ringing, or placing an iron ring round a branch to prevent the annual increase of bark on the space occupied by the ring. |
4. The action of cattle in forming a ring. Cf. ring v.1 1 d.
| 1868 C. W. Browne Overlanding in Australia 77 After an hour's amusement of this sort, they stop of their own accord. This evolution is termed ‘ringing’. 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 60 Ringing, the milling of cattle. |
▪ II. ringing, vbl. n.2
(ˈrɪŋɪŋ)
[f. ring v.2]
1. a. The act of causing a bell, etc., to sound.
| [c 1315 Shoreham i. 186 Hali water, and haly bred, Liȝt, and belryngynges.] c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 212 To make solempnyte..wiþ dirige & messis & wax & rengynge. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 17 Y⊇ Sexteyn of y⊇ chirche to haue..xijd. for his rynggyng. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Offices 31 The people beeyng called together by the ryngyng of a bel. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Glas,..the chyming or ringing for the dead, a knell. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xiii. 184 Ringing oftentimes hath made good musick on the bells. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals iii. 145 The Touch..gives almost as good evidence as the Sight, and the Ringing of a Medal is..a very common experiment. 1713 Steele Englishm. No 50. 323 His Lordship proposes an annual ringing of Bells. 1836–7 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xiii, Let us take a peep ‘behind’, previous to the ringing-up. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i. i, In all seasons there was the..ringing of pots and pans. |
| transf. a 1740 Waterland Diss. Argt. A Priori ii, The whole seems to amount to little more than the ringing of changes upon the word necessity. |
b. ringing-in (see quots. and ring v.2 2 b, 7 c).
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., At the conclusion of chiming for church, during which several bells are used, a single one is rung to announce that the service is about to commence, and this is called ringing-in. 1891 A. Gordon Folks o' Carglen 41 The clang of this bell,..—the ringin'-in, as it is called—which warns me..to race with might and main to the door of the kirk. |
c. ringing-up, in senses 10 b, c of the verb.
| 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) 1st Ser. II. 205 Let us take a peep ‘behind’ previous to the ringing up. 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey iii. xiv. 316 He..closeted himself in the telephone booth... Ringing-up was quicker. 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate i. v. 51 This ringing-up of Paris seemed to me a most dashing extravagance. Aunt Sadie.. only made trunk calls in times of crisis. |
2. a. The fact of a bell or the like giving forth a sound; the sound produced by a bell or bells, or by other bodies having similar properties.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 396 Sholde no ryngynge do me ryse, ar I were rype to dyne. c 1400 Beryn 1763 Ther no man is within, þe rynging to answere. c 1400 Lydg. Chorle & Birde 103 Ryngyng of feters is no mery sowne. c 1500 Melusine 125 And thanne bygan the ryngyng to be grete..whan the tydynges of the socours..was knowen of all. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 11 b, How much you differ from those who never heard the ringing of other belles than these heere. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) III. 153/2 This, by striking the bells alternately, [will] occasion a ringing. 1848 Dickens Dombey lxii, There is a blithe and merry ringing, as of a little peal of marriage bells. |
b. Electronics. The phenomenon of transient damped oscillation occurring in a circuit at its resonant frequency as a result of a sudden change in voltage level; also, in Television, the occurrence on the screen of black lines to the right of a white object, caused by transient oscillation in the video amplifier of the receiver.
| 1949 Electronic Engin. XXI. 207/2 If the attenuation of the high frequencies takes place too suddenly (i.e. sharp cut-off) then we get ringing. 1953 H. A. Chinn Television Broadcasting xvi. 640 A spurious peak or a sharp cutoff in the response-frequency characteristic..discloses itself in the resulting picture display as..repetitions of the original signal. This manifestation of ‘ringing’ of the video circuits can be detected by observation of vertical lines in the picture. 1961 Times 20 Nov. (Television Suppl.) p. xii/1 Gross defects are obvious to any viewer either by poor contrast, lack of definition, ‘ringing’, or unwanted interference. 1969 J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching iv. 113 In practice the inductance in the emitter wire through which the drive current has to flow is likely to limit switching speed or cause ‘ringing’ in the output voltage. 1978 Gramophone Jan. 1336/2 There is no suggestion of overshoot or ringing, showing that the amplifier is extremely stable and has a good damping factor. |
3. A sensation in the ears similar to that produced by the sound of bells, etc.
For the belief connected with this see quot. 1718.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xii. (Bodl. MS.), Warmod..ido into þe eres destruyeþ ringinge and tingelinge þat is þerein. c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 35 Sum man ioyed..that he hadde receyuyd remedie..from ryngyng of his erys. 1538 Elyot Tinnimentum, a ryngyng in the eare of a man. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 112 It dooth take awaye the ringing or sound of the eares. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 591 The patient is vexed with ringings, singings, whistlings and hissing murmures in his Eares. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 21 It helpeth the ulcers of the eare. 2. or 3. drops help the ringing of the same. 1718 Free-thinker No 62. 46 A Ringing..in the Ears..signified that Some One was talking of them in their Absence. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Med. xiv. 170 Ringing in ears continues. |
4. Comb., as ringing day, a day on which church-bells are appointed to be rung; ringing engine, a form of pile-driver, worked by men pulling at ropes after the manner of bell-ringers; ringing floor, -loft, the standing-place of bell-ringers; ringing tone Teleph., the sound produced in a caller's telephone to indicate that connection has been made to another telephone and it is ringing.
| 1615–6 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Accts. (1896) 165 Fower vsuall *Ringinge daies for the King. 1763 in Picton Liverpool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 278 Ordered that four ringing days..be now paid at the expence of the Corporation. 1886 Gloss. Rochdale, Ringing-day, the fifth of November. |
| 1860 J. Hodges Gt. Victoria Bridge 18 In drilling these in, a small *ringing-engine was used. 1884 Building News 15 Aug. 242/3 A ringing engine is of similar construction to that of a crab engine. |
| 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 177 Some height above the *ringing-floor. |
| 1620 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 170 {pstlg}3 towards the buildinge of the *Ringinge Lofte. 1848 Rickman Styles Arch. 153 They are not used in the bell-chamber, but in the ringing-loft to give air to the ringers. |
| 1924 W. Aitken Automatic Telephone Syst. III. lvi. 272 A portion of the ringing current also passes over the upper condenser,..and the caller receives the *ringing tone. 1943 G. Greene Ministry of Fear i. v. 80 He dialled the number... He was almost afraid to hear the ringing tone. 1970 T. Lewis Jack's Return Home 181 The ringing tone only went once before someone lifted the receiver. |
▪ III. ringing, ppl. a.1
(ˈrɪŋɪŋ)
[f. ring v.1]
Circling; running in rings or circles.
| 1883 Daily News 3 Jan. 6/4 The deer..gave a ringing run through Black Park..back towards the Heath. 1887 M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike iv, The fox was what Helen called ‘a ringing brute’. 1903 Longm. Mag. Jan. 238 The ringing nature of the hare's course..bring[s] her..more into contact with the sportsman than in the case of the fox. |
▪ IV. ringing, ppl. a.2
(ˈrɪŋɪŋ)
[f. ring v.2]
1. Having or giving the sound of a bell, or of some metallic body; resounding, resonant.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1082 Rial ryngande rotes & þe reken fyþel. 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 262 And if you want of ringing bels, When that my corps goth into graue. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 47 Thee skyes lowd rumbled with ringing thunderus hurring. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 9 Loud strokes and ringing sowndes. 1700 Blackmore Job 125 The naked, blind, and lame Thro' ringing streets my bounty did proclaim. 1729 G. Shelvocke Artillery iv. 292 Tin..loses its noisy or ringing Quality. 1810 Southey Kehama xvii. ii, Baly! great Baly! still The ringing walls and echoing towers proclaim. 1837 Lytton E. Maltravers i. 42 Next came a most ringing laugh. 1872 Yeats Tech. Hist. Comm. 135 The vessels they moulded were baked in a fire, and had a hard ringing sound. |
| fig. 1602 F. Herring Anat. 17 The ringing Name and Fame of a great Phisition. 1870 Standard 5 Dec., Prince Frederick Charles has only to win one ringing victory to leave Paris face to face with a..desperate situation. 1890 Spectator 8 Mar., There is a ringing story yet to be told of the heroism of the Italians. |
b. Of frost: Severe, so that the ground rings under the feet.
| 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 409 ‘Ringing Black Frost’, a very severe frost. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xii. ii. (1872) IV. 140 Rain ending, there ensued a ringing frost. |
c. = rattling ppl. a. 4.
| 1876 Meredith Beauch. Career xxxii, Cecilia's noble schooner was sure to be out in such a ringing breeze. |
2. In spec. names, as ringing bird, caterpillar, frog (see quots.).
| 1700 W. Dampier Voy. III. ii. 74 One sort of these pretty little Birds my Men call'd the Ringing-bird; because it had six Notes, and..repeated all his Notes twice one after another. 1724 Derham Notes Albin's Eng. Insects Index, Ringing Caterpillar [the chrysalis of which could make a glass ring like a bell]. 1802 Kerr tr. Buffon's Ovip., Quadr. & Serp. II. 235 The Ringing Frog... The specific name is derived from its voice, which is clear, round, and ringing. |
3. ringing boy, a boy employed at the Mint to ring coins in order to test their soundness.
| 1893 Daily News 9 June 5/4 In order to detect these defaulters a number of..ringing boys are employed. |
Hence ˈringingly adv.; ˈringingness.
| 1859 Cornwallis New World I. 197 The wild denizens of the wilderness, who uttered their war-cry so ringingly in our ears. 1874 Miss Havergal in Mem. (1880) 153 There was a ringingness in her touch, playing with such joyance. 1876 Meredith Beauch. Career III. iii. 39 He had leisure to think over the blow dealt him..so ringingly on the head. |