ring n.
1. as a ‘circular’ part of the body.
(a) (also ring of love) the vagina.
‘Cambridg Libell’ in May & Bryson Verse Libel 342: O Harrie Sadler, Arraunt Knight, / Well mounted on a Gray, / Thow bear’st thye price that ring by ryght, / Though Gefferey Smyth say nay. | ||
Gesta Grayorum in Progresses and Processions of Queen Elizabeth (1823) III 327: The Priories of Cunnington claime to hold as of the Burrow of Greter Cuniliana, in Borough English, to find a ringe for his Highnes Knights to runn, at every coronation. | ||
Merchant of Venice V i: Well, while I live I’ll fear no other thing So sore as keeping safe Nerissa’s ring. | ||
Northward Hoe I i: When my wiues ring does smoake for’t. | ||
‘The Threading of the Needle’ Sportive Wit in (1979) 157: Yet I care not; for all that I will venture, / If you’ll give me leave, within your ring to enter. | ||
Mock-Tempest III i: She [i.e. a whore] carries an enchanted Ring about her which turns Rich men to beggars, and makes an Ass of a Justice of the Peace. | ||
‘Married Estate’ in Merry Drollery Compleat (1875) 23: For a Bodkin, a Ring, or the other fine thing. | ||
Comical View of London and Westminster in Works (1760) I 150: The famous Annulus Anticornutus, or a ring to prevent cuckoldom, very useful for all married person: ’Tis a hair-ring of a bright beautiful red within, and is of that wonderful efficacy and virtue, that so long as a man keeps it on his finger, he may defy all the Devils in Hell. | ||
Laugh and Be Fat 24: They are the individual Jewels my Uncle bid me thirty thousand pounds for, but I would not part with them; and upon my Word they shall not be set to any Body’s Ring, but thy own. | ||
Harris’s List of Covent-Garden Ladies 76: [She will] engage your champion of her ring with a grasp, till he is reduced to bend beneath the powerful squeeze and yield all the metal he has about him. | ||
Sl. and Its Analogues. | ||
Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 14: Anneau, m. the female pudendum; ‘the ring’. | ||
Memoirs of Madge Buford 91: Plunging his cock full tilt into my ring of love. |
(b) the anus, the buttocks; thus ring-snatcher, a sodomite, ring-snatching, sodomy.
‘Cropt Comet’ in Hilaria 101: For I’ve been in the milky way, / And Saturn’s filthy ring, sir. | ||
DSUE (1984) 977/1: late C.19–20. | ||
Aus. Vulgarisms [t/s] 12: ring: The anus. | ||
(con. 1940s) Borstal Boy 47: Want to watch his ring, though. | ||
Owning Up (1974) 234: He goes running down the stairs holding onto ’is ring to get to the outside toilet in time. | ||
(con. 1941) Gunner 53: Never hit the fookers with y’r fist, Aussie [...] If y’do y’ll only hurt y’r hand. Give ’em a good boot up the ring. That fixes ’em. | ||
What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] [W]e spent a week huddled under blankets, freezing our rings off. | ‘TV Ads’ in||
Candy 184: I’m going to belt through your ring with my big fuckstick. | ||
Vatican Bloodbath 78: ‘I’m afraid I must ask you to leave’ said the Pope, tossing up his cassock and baring his hideously saggy arse. [...] O’Brian obediently kissed the Pope’s ring. | ||
Intractable [ebook] ‘That was one fucking serious ring of fire I had. I was too scared to fart in case I shit myself’. | ||
Ringer [ebook] n.p.: There's a sting in my ring like I've just dropped some serious rocks. | ||
Twitter 1 Aug. 🌐 ‘What’s your ringtone?’ Mick asks Paddy. ‘I’ve never looked,’ Paddy replies. ‘But I'm guessing pinkish-brown’. |
(c) anal intercourse, sodomy.
(con. 1940s) Borstal Boy 284: Ken [...] said quietly, in a low tone, ‘Ring’. |
(d) (Irish) in the context of vomiting, the stomach and/or its contents .
The Joy (2015) [ebook] I throw me ring up. All that cider [...] comes gorging out. |
(e) the mouth.
Urban Grimshaw 116: Now, shut your fucking ring. |
2. (UK Und.) with ref. to money [? SE ring, thus an object worth money, or the ringing noise the cash makes as it is thrown from the coach/into the begging bowl].
(a) the money that is stolen by a highwayman.
Lanthorne and Candle-Light Ch. 7: The money so gotten, is The Ring. | ||
Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Ring, money extorted by Rogues on the High-way, or by Gentlemen Beggers. | ||
New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698]. | ||
, , , | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698]. |
(b) money that is procured by begging.
, , | et seq. see sense 1. | |
, , | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
Lex. Balatronicum. | ||
Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. |
3. (Aus.) the site of a two-up game.
(con. WWI) Sl. Today and Yesterday 287: Joe. I put across a beauty when I found the double-headed penny in the ring. | in Partridge||
Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 60: Ring, the scene of operations of a two-up school or the school itself. | ||
Riverslake 125: The ring was not easily found, in a narrow gully hung over with gum-trees. | ||
Great Aus. Lover Stories 5: A good ring keeper or any experienced swy player can pick up a butterflied penny from the genuine spinning article. | in
4. (W.I.) in pl., firearms [? the circular barrels].
Official Dancehall Dict. 44: Rings firearms: u. go fi yuh rings/reach for your firearm. |
5. see ringer n. (2b)
In compounds
see separate entry.
(UK society) diarrhoea, or very painful defecation.
Sloane Ranger Hbk 159: ringburner n. The results of a heavy curry the morning after. | ||
DSUE (8th edn) 977/2: 1960s. |
see circle jerk n.
a male homosexual.
Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: ring master n. 1. The master of ceremonies at a circus. 2. A botter (qv). |
1. the anus; thus (1990s+) ringpiece licker, an anilinguist.
Diaries (1986) 19 May 174: ‘He looks rather tight-arsed,’ I said. ‘Don’t you believe it, laddie, she’s had camels up her ring-piece.’. | ||
‘Abdul Abul Bul Amir’ in | (1979) 3: Old Abdul the fool left the flange of his tool / Up the ringpiece of Ivan Skavar!||
DSUE (8th edn) 1279/2: twittering ringpiece [...] A state of extreme nervousness: RAF; since ca. 1939. | ||
Death Minus Zero (1998) 184: He had the trots, rushing off to the lavatory every five minutes. ‘My ringpiece is doing a dance,’ he said coming back for the fifth time. | ||
Stump 155: Have a fuckin ringpiece like a blood orange. | ||
(con. 1980s) Skagboys 365: I feel shivers running up the backs ay my legs [...] as my ringpiece starts to go intae a spasm. |
2. a general term of abuse.
OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 ringpiece n.adj. arsehole, idiot. | ||
🌐 These are dark days for the ERG Brexit ultras. The Fellowship of the Ringpieces finds itself divided on their next move. | Guardian 26 Mar.
a male homosexual, a sodomite.
🌐 ring raider A battyman or bum bandit ass bandit or gay Backs to the wall lads – there’s a ring raider on the loose. | on Urban Dict.
a sodomite; thus ring-snatching, sodomy.
5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases. | ||
Queens’ Vernacular 18: the man who fucks in anal intercourse, as opposed to the one who is fucked [...] ring snatcher. |
1. (Aus.) a loud breaking of wind.
Aus. Vulgarisms [t/s] 12: ringstinger: A sharp, loud fart. |
2. a painful act of defecation, attributed to a meal with an excess of hot spices.
Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: ring sting n. Inflammation of the ring (qv) as a result of pissing rusty water (qv) such as after visiting the Rupali restaurant in Newcastle and sampling the world’s hottest curry. | ||
Grits 316: Oo. Big one ther. Birruver ring-stinger, that . . . a red-wine dump, poo, mud-out, crap, shite. | ||
OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 ring-sting adj. the results of excreting stools heavily impregnated with chilli or last nights curry. |
In phrases
to perform anal intercourse.
Runnin’ Down Some Lines 158: A sizable vocabulary is associated with [anal intercourse...] (to ask for/buy the ring, to take on some backs, to throw a buttonhole on someone). |
anal intercourse.
Und. Speaks 1/1: A bit of ring, buggery; sodomy (prison). | ||
Sex Variants. | ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry||
Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 4: bit of ring, to have a (v.): The act of pedication. (Prison slang.). | ||
Maledicta VI:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 147: From them she might pick up and more to startle than identify with her sisters use words and expressions such as peddle your ass, have a bit of ring (pedicate). |
the vagina.
Sl. and Its Analogues. |
to vomit violently.
Commitments 154: Nearly puked me ring. |
to perform anal intercourse.
Runnin’ Down Some Lines 158: A sizable vocabulary is associated with [anal intercourse] (to ask for/buy the ring, to take on some backs). |
of a woman, to lose one’s virginity.
DSUE (8th edn) 977/1: C.19–early 20. |
(N.Z.) to be sure of, to be certain of, esp. in phr, you can put a ring around that one.
Gun in My Hand 60: Gotta get a good possie on the bank and see the boys win. You can put a ring around that one. | ||
Tangahano 130: There’s still a couple of hundred that haven’t told me yet—but they will tonight. You can put a ring around it! | ||
Best of Barry Crump (1974) 244: You’d never catch me volunteering [...] you can put a ring around that lot. I’d turn conchy first. | ‘A Good Keen Girl’||
Boy, The Bridge, The River 130: ‘It had better be good weather then,’ Latty agreed. ‘You can put a ring round that,’ Len said. | ||
Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 127/2: you can put a ring around that you can be sure of that; from ringing some item with a pencil so it stands out on the page. | ||
Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988]. |
1. (also ringadangdoo, ring-a-rang-roo) the vagina.
in Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) I 150: Her ring-dang-doo, pray what is that? / Furred all araounnn’ – lak’ a poosy-cat, / All kivvered with haiiir! – HAN’ split inn two; / That’s what you caaal – her ring-dand-doo. | ||
in Erotic Muse (1992) 184: Oh, the ring-dang-doo, now what is that? / It’s big and round like a pussy cat, / Covered with fur and split in two. / That’s what they call the ring-dang-doo. | ||
in Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) I 148: I’ve got some pussy that’s mighty fine, / So young and old, come take a whack, / Take a whack at my ring-dang-doo. | ||
in Erotic Muse (1992) 183: Oh, the ring-a-rang-roo, now what is that? / It’s soft and round like a pussy cat. / It’s got a hole in the middle and split in two, / And that’s what they call the ring-a-rang-roo. | ||
Unsinkable Molly Brown 9: Who’s going to take care of you when you’re wanting a little ring-dang-do. | ||
(con. 1940s–60s) Snatches and Lays 17: The Ringadangdoo, pray what is that? / It’s furry and soft, like a pussy-cat. | ‘The Ringadangdoo’ in
2. (Aus.) a spree, a party.
DSUE (8th edn) 977/2: since late 1940s. |
3. (US) a complicated affair, a rigmarole.
NDAS. |
(adulterous) sexual intercourse.
Gesta Grayorum (1688) 18: One Amazon, with a Ring to be run at by the Knights of the Prince’s Band. | ||
Northward Hoe I i: There has bin old running at the ring since I went. | ||
Woman’s Prize I i: Oh my old Sir, When shall we see your worship run at Ring? That hour, a standing were worth money. | ||
Woman never Vext 59: [We shall] run at the ring of your setting-up, and you must tell us who deserves most favour. | ||
Character of the Low Countries 53: Where the Woman lyes in, the Ringle of the door does penance, and is lapped about with linnen, either to shew you that loud knocking may wake the child; Or else that for a moneth the Ring is not to be run at. | ||
‘News From Hide-Park’ Pepys Ballads (1987) III 257: That I all night long might have my repast to run at the ring Tan-tivee. | ||
Erotopolis 108: The Shepherds will never Just unless the Shepherdesses will provide Rings, nor the Shepherdesses can ever be brought to run a-Tilt, unless the Shepherds provide Launces. |
1. to be violently sick.
Guntz 187: Especially after I have [...] thrown up my ring. | ||
(con. WWII) Soldier Erect 105: Sodding shitting Wog beer! [...] Makes me spew my ring every time! | ||
Catching Up with Hist. 21: The doss houses [...] where thee spew der rings up. | ‘Prufrock Scoused’||
Get Your Cock Out 103: Matching him drink for drink, then spewing her ring in the backs of cabs. | ||
Teenage Dirtbag Years 13: That porty in her gaff when I puked my ring up. | ||
(con. 1990s) A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun 406: I witnessed a mate of mine spewing his ring up in a cell in Wandsworth. | ||
Raiders 35: The man [...] threw up his ring into the [toilet] bowl. | ||
Glorious Heresies 65: He sent Karine a text, telling her he had caught the flu or something, got up and puked his ring out, went back to bed. | ||
Braywatch 323: [H]e storts spewing his ring up. He’s like, ‘BLEEEUUUGGGHHH!!! BLEEEUUUGGGHHH!!!’. |
2. in fig. use, to talk openly, candidly.
Guntz 234: One starts of by spewing one’s ring about things that one feels strongly about. |
3. to back down, to be a coward.
(con. WWII) Soldier Erect 91: You spewed your fucking ring, didn’t you? [...] the great right-winger Stubbs chickened out of screwing a bibi at the last minute. |
(Aus.) to work very hard.
White Shoes 6: Porking some bloke’s girl behind his back while the poor mug’s out working his ring off wasn’t actually cricket. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
(UK Und.) a swindler who sells counterfeit gold rings.
Fraternitye of Vacabondes in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 11: There is another kinds of these Ring choppers, which commonly cary about them a faire gold ring in deede, and these haue counterfait rings made so lyke this gold ring, as ye shal nor perceiue the contrary. |
see ring faller n.
see separate entry.
see separate entry.
(Aus.) a bookmaker.
Sydney Sportsman(Surry Hills, NSW) 6 June 6/1: ‘Two to one’ hollered the ringmen when the Cup betting opened. |
a drunkard.
Manipulus Vocabulorum 80: A Ringpigger, potator, bibax. |
In phrases
1. (US gambling) to bet heavily when losing badly, hoping to get even.
Complete Guide to Gambling. |
2. (US black/campus) to be obsessed, to the point of foolishness, with one other person, usu. a lover, by whom one can be led.
CUSS 184: Ring in his nose Be excessively submissive to your girl friend. | et al.||
Runnin’ Down Some Lines 126: Expressions like [...] to have a ring through your nose, or to be a turkey on a string mean to be deeply infatuated or in love with another. | ||
Iced 132: This fifteen-year-old chick had me by my nose ring. |
(US) to beat up, to assault.
Hard Bounce [ebook] ‘So, we put the rings to the nephew of this town’s top organized criminal’. |