English

Proper noun

Ringer

1. A surname​.

Derived terms

• Ringer's lactate solution‎

Etymology 2

ring +‎ -er

Noun

Ringer ‎(plural Ringers)

1. (fandom slang) A fan of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien and/or the film trilogy based on it.
   • 2001, Kathy Marks, "The campaign for real Tolkien", The Independent, 10 November 2001:

     Readers flocked online to articulate their angst, discovering 400 websites where "Ringers" congregated to converse in Quenya – one of Tolkien's fictional languages – and discuss such burning issues as whether elves have pointy ears.

   • 2005, Jody Genessy, "Slamdance gets infusion of 'Lord of Rings' mania", Deseret News, 27 January 2005:

     One Ringer travels all over and takes pictures of her "Lord of the Rings" figurines.

   • 2014, Mark Smith, "Sci-fi fans trek to city for Comic Con", South Wales Echo, 3 March 2014:

     Trekkers, Whovians and Ringers were out in force over the weekend as sci-fi and fantasy fans descended on Cardiff for the city's Film and Comic Convention.

Synonyms

• Ringnut

Hypernyms

• Tolkiendil, Tolkienian, Tolkienist, Tolkienite

German

Etymology

ringen +‎ -er

Pronunciation

Noun

Ringer m ‎(genitive Ringers, plural Ringer, feminine Ringerin)

1. (olympic) wrestler

Related terms

• Ringen n
• Ringkampf m
• Ringkämpfer m

English

Noun

ringer ‎(plural ringers)

1. Someone who rings, especially a bell ringer.
   • 1863, Jean Ingelow, High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire,

     Pull, if ye never pull′d before;

     Good ringers, pull your best," quoth he.

2. (mining) A crowbar.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Simmonds to this entry?)

Etymology 2

From ring ‎(“to surround”).

Noun

ringer ‎(plural ringers)

1. (games) In the game of horseshoes, the event of the horseshoe landing around the pole.
2. (uncountable, games) A game of marbles where players attempt to knock each other's marbles out of a ring drawn on the ground.

See also

• ringer T-shirt

Etymology 3

Probably from ring the changes.

Noun

ringer ‎(plural ringers)

1. (sports) A person highly proficient at a skill or sport who is brought in, often fraudulently, to supplement a team.
2. (horse racing) A horse fraudulently entered in a race using the name of another horse.
3. A person, animal, or entity which resembles another so closely as to be taken for the other, now usually in the phrase dead ringer.

Derived terms

• dead ringer

Etymology 4

Unknown.

Noun

ringer ‎(plural ringers)

1. (Britain, dialect) A top performer.
2. (Australia) The champion shearer of a shearing shed.
3. (Australia) A stockman, a cowboy.
   • 1964, Alec Bolton, Walkabout′s Australia, Walkabout magazine, page 107,

     The ringers are the stockmen on a station. The cattle pass through their hands before the drovers lift them and take them along the stock routes that lead to the killing pens in cities.

   • 1987, Geoffrey Atkinson, Philip Quirk. The Australian Adventure: The Explorer′s Guide to the Island Continent, page 175,

     This vast holding is run by six ringers and six boys. A ringer is a qualified stationhand and a boy is a trainee. It takes four years for a boy to become a ringer.

   • 2005, Jake Drake, The Wild West in Australia and America, page 156,

     Most people associated with the Australian beef industry believe the ringer′s skill of throwing cattle by the tail to be a practice that is purely Australian. There is ample evidence however, that it was practised in South and Central America long before it was developed here.

Anagrams

• erring

Danish

Verb

ringer

1. present tense of ringe

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

ringer m

1. indefinite plural of ring

Verb

ringer

1. present tense of ringe

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

ringer

1. present tense of ringa and ringe

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse hringr, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz.

Noun

ringer m

1. ring, circle

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: ring

Swedish

Verb

ringer

1. present tense of ringa.