rung

adj

Etymology: See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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.”

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English rung, from Old English hrung, from Proto-West Germanic *hrungu, from Proto-Germanic *hrungō. Cognate with Dutch rong (“pole, stanchion”), German Runge (“stake, pole, stanchion”), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌰 (hrugga, “a staff”).

1. A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.
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. A 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. A floor timber in a ship.
5. One of the stakes of a cart; a spar; a heavy staff.
6. One of the radial handles projecting from the rim of a steering wheel.
7. One of the pins or trundles of a lantern wheel.

verb

Etymology: See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

1. past participle of ring (only in senses related to a bell)
2. simple 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.”