ring in

See also: ring-in and ringin'

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

ring in (third-person singular simple present rings in, present participle ringing in, simple past rang in, past participle rung in)

1. To make a phone call to one's usual place of work.

   John has just rung in sick. He won't be back til Monday, he says.

2. (transitive) To encircle, to surround in a ring, engirdle.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 36

     Attend now, my braves. I have mustered ye all round this capstan; and ye mates, flank me with your lances; and ye harpooneers, stand there with your irons; and ye, stout mariners, ring me in, that I may in some sort revive a noble custom of my fisherman fathers before me.

   • 1888, Kipling, False Dawn:

     All the world was only the two Copleigh girls, Saumarez and I, ringed in with the lightning and the dark; and the guidance of this misguided world seemed to lie in my hands.

   • 1936, Robert Howard, Graveyard Rats:

     He was ringed in on all sides by a solid circle of gleaming red sparks that shone from the grass. Held back by their fear, the graveyard rats surrounded him, squealing their hate.

3. (transitive) To celebrate by ringing of the bells or as if by ringing of the bells.

   We will ring in the New Year at a ski resort.

Synonyms

• call in

Anagrams

• nigrin, rining