RINGER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ringer mean? 

• RINGER (noun)
  The noun RINGER has 4 senses:

1. a person who rings church bells (as for summoning the congregation)

2. a person who is almost identical to another

3. a contestant entered in a competition under false pretenses

4. (horseshoes) the successful throw of a horseshoe or quoit so as to encircle a stake or peg

  Familiarity information: RINGER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RINGER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who rings church bells (as for summoning the congregation)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bell ringer; ringer; toller

Hypernyms ("ringer" is a kind of...):

signaler; signaller (someone who communicates by signals)

Derivation:

ring (make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who is almost identical to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

clone; dead ringer; ringer

Hypernyms ("ringer" is a kind of...):

double; image; look-alike (someone who closely resembles a famous person (especially an actor))

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A contestant entered in a competition under false pretenses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("ringer" is a kind of...):

fake; faker; fraud; imposter; impostor; pretender; pseud; pseudo; role player; sham; shammer (a person who makes deceitful pretenses)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(horseshoes) the successful throw of a horseshoe or quoit so as to encircle a stake or peg

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("ringer" is a kind of...):

throw (the act of throwing (propelling something with a rapid movement of the arm and wrist))

Domain category:

horseshoes; quoits (a game in which iron rings (or open iron rings) are thrown at a stake in the ground in the hope of encircling it)

 Context examples 

Although Bright, dead ringer, and MRF-2 preferentially bind to AT-rich sites, DNA binding of ARID-proteins is not necessarily sequence specific; ARID protein p270 of the SWI-SNF complex exhibits non-specific DNA binding activity.

(ARID Domain, NCI Thesaurus)