ring out

verb

To sound clearly and loudly.

“Suddenly, a shot rang out and someone screamed.”

Meanings

ring out1

verbring out (third-person singular simple present rings out, present participle ringing out, simple past rang out, past participle rung out)

present singular third person rings out · participle present ringing out · past rang out · participle past rung out

  1. To sound clearly and loudly.

    Suddenly, a shot rang out and someone screamed.

    3 more examples

    The boys of the NYPD choir were singing "Galway Bay" / And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day

    1987, The Pogues, “Fairytale of New York”

    A terrifying volley of pistol-shots rings out—cracks sharply; ripples spread— silence laps smooth over sound

    1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 3, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC

    Now mind you Todd is 6ft 2in and Lt. Jose 5 ft. 9in, he started walking toward Jose, the first shot ringed out then another it all happen so fast!

    2012, Charles E. Davis, My Life, My Son "Big L" and Family Values, page 61
  2. communicationsTo make a phone call from an internal phone system to a general telephone network number.

    You can ring out if you dial 9 first and wait for the tone before dialling the number.

  3. sound engineeringTo equalize a sound system to eliminate feedback.

    I've got to get these mic lines set up and ringed out.

    2017, Hayden Nicholas, Rock Bottom, page 43
    1 more example

    The objective of ringing-out a system is (believe it or not) to get as many frequencies as possible to ring at the same time as the system goes past its gain-before-feedback limit.

    1996, Scott Hunter Stark, Live Sound Reinforcement, page 110
  4. businessTo eliminate the middlemen in a circular pattern of transactions.

    By section 7 a penalty is provided for any “ringing out” of contracts for future delivery.

    1894, United States. Congress, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Fifty-Third Congress, Second Session (volume 26, part 7, page 6484)
    2 more examples

    Contracts in stocks w.i. (when issued—see When Issued) are also ringed out in the same manner as contracts in futures in grain, cotton, coffee, etc.

    1930, The Practical Handbook of Business and Finance, page 434

    On the CBOT, ringing out was voluntary, while on the New York Cotton Exchange, it was compulsory.

    2003, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, volume 5, page 388

ring out2

nounring out (plural ring outs)

plural ring outs

  1. video gamesA win in a fighting game obtained by throwing one's opponent out of the arena.

    Even when Heihachi doesn't score a ring out with these combos, almost half of an enemy's health disappears […]

    2003, Michael Lummis, Soul Calibur II Official Fighter's Guide Limited Edition, page 105
verbring out (third-person singular simple present rings out, present participle ringing out, simple past and past participle ringed out)

present singular third person rings out · participle present ringing out · participle past ringed out · past ringed out

  1. ambitransitivevideo gamesTo throw (an opponent) out of the arena, thereby winning.

Origin

ring out · verb

From ring (verb) + out (adverb).

Full word history & related roots →

ring out · noun, verb

  1. Japaneseリングアウト
  2. Englishring out

Calque of Japanese リングアウト (ringu auto), equivalent to English ring (noun) + out (verb)

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto elsonori
  • elsonorito sound clearly and loudly

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

ring out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ring%20out

MLA

“ring out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ring%20out. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ring out,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ring%20out.

Source: ring out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.