rung

noun

1. 1

   A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.

2. 2

   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.

3. 3

   figurativeA position in a hierarchy.

   the lowest rung of the society

   “I’m very proud that I’ve worked on every rung of the ladder,” Ashley says. “When you go to college, you don’t want to be a senior right away—you want to be a freshman.”

4. 4

   datedA floor timber in a ship.

5. 5

   datedOne of the stakes of a cart; a spar; a heavy staff.

6. 6

   datedOne of the radial handles projecting from the rim of a steering wheel.

7. 7

   datedOne of the pins or trundles of a lantern wheel.

verb

1. 1

   Also a form of ringpast participle of ring (only in senses related to a bell)

2. 2

   Also a form of ringsimple past of ring

   With ecchoing Shouts the vaulted Chamber rung, / Belle Chuck was now the TOAST of ev'ry Tongue.

   Mr. Seibels, in his testimony, said I rung him up to see about labels. He is very much mistaken. I rung him up to see about bottles.

   So they rung him up, and the next day he came to me and wanted to know where that pitch was.

   "I just rung him up, told him I was looking for an apartment and some work and got both of them the same day," Moe said.

adjective

1. 1

   Of a pig: having a ring through the nose.

   […] he passed by his gate with a decided scowl on his furrowed brow, and grunting and growling like a newly rung pig.

   A "rung" pig is comfortable as long as he confines his food hunt to the surface of the ground. Ringing a pig of ordinary size is easy, but special arrangements must be made for handling the big ones.

Forms

plural

rungs