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Added 10 October 2026

ringer

/ˈɹɪŋə(ɹ)/ noun

Categories: PeopleActionsRare Words

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ringer at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Someone who rings, especially a bell ringer.
  2. A crowbar.
  3. ↑ 1858, Peter Lund Simmonds, The Dictionary of Trade Products

noun

  1. A person who places rings or bands on a bird's leg.
  2. A stockman, a cowboy.
  3. In the game of horseshoes, the event of the horseshoe landing around the pole.

noun

  1. A top performer.
  2. The champion shearer of a shearing shed.

noun

  1. Any person or thing that is fraudulent; a fake or impostor.
  2. A person highly proficient at a skill or sport who is brought in, often fraudulently, to supplement a team.
    In this next clip from the security camera, we see that the rube flashing his wad of cash thinks he'll win, but he doesn't realize that the guy in the gray shirt is a ringer.
  3. A horse fraudulently entered in a race using the name of another horse.

Origin

From Middle English ringere, rynger, ryngar, equivalent to ring (“to sound a bell”) + -er.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: ringingdoorbellsnareringbuzzersluggerdecoycratelook-alikechampionbell

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