Rung
adj, name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.
- 2 one of the crosspieces that form the steps of a ladder wordnet
- 3 A crosspiece between legs of a chair.
"One of its arms was a disabled flail which used to be wielded by Goodman Rigby, before his spouse worried him out of this troublesome world; the other, if I mistake not, was composed of the pudding stick and a broken rung of a chair, tied loosely together at the elbow."
- 4 a crosspiece between the legs of a chair wordnet
- 5 A position in a hierarchy. figuratively
"the lowest rung of the society"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A floor timber in a ship. dated
- 7 One of the stakes of a cart; a spar; a heavy staff. dated
- 8 One of the radial handles projecting from the rim of a steering wheel. dated
- 9 One of the pins or trundles of a lantern wheel. dated
- 1 past participle of ring (only in senses related to a bell) form-of, participle, past
- 2 simple past of ring dialectal, form-of, past
"With ecchoing Shouts the vaulted Chamber rung, / Belle Chuck was now the TOAST of ev'ry Tongue."
- 1 Of a pig: having a ring through the nose. not-comparable
"[…] he passed by his gate with a decided scowl on his furrowed brow, and grunting and growling like a newly rung pig."
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"I ran to school, but the bell had already rung."
Etymology
From Middle English rung, from Old English hrung, from Proto-West Germanic *hrungu, from Proto-Germanic *hrungō. Cognate with Dutch rong (“pole, stanchion”), German Runge (“stake, pole, stanchion”), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌰 (hrugga, “a staff”).
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.