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Webster 1913 Edition

Ringleader

Ring′leadˊer

,
Noun.
1.
The leader of a circle of dancers; hence, the leader of a number of persons acting together; the leader of a herd of animals.
A primacy of order, such an one as the
ringleader
hath in a dance.
Barrow.
2.
Opprobriously, a leader of a body of men engaged in the violation of law or in an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers, or the like.
The
ringleaders
were apprehended, tried, fined, and imprisoned.
Macaulay.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ringleader

RING'LEADER

,
Noun.
[ring and leader.] The leader of any association of men engaged in violating of law or an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers and the like. this name is derived from the practice which men associating to oppose law have sometimes adopted, of signing their names to articles of agreement in a ring, that no one of their number might be distinguished as the leader.

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