ring play

noun

Any of various (mainly children's) games played in a circle, typically with dance movements and singing.

First used 19th c.
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Meanings

nounring play (countable and uncountable, plural ring plays)

plural ring plays

  1. CaribbeanUScountableuncountablechiefly African-AmericanAny of various (mainly children's) games played in a circle, typically with dance movements and singing.First known use 19th c.

    Shall we have a Ring-play before we work today?

    1911, Scott Joplin, “The Corn-Huskers”, in Treemonisha
    1 more example

    “They'd push me 'way from de ring plays and make out they couldn't play wid nobody dat lived on premises.”

    1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper, published 2013, page 9
Cite this entry
APA

ring play. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ring%20play

MLA

“ring play.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ring%20play. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ring play,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ring%20play.

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