See hold the ring on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Probably from keep the ring. In days past when spectators would encircle participants in a prizefight or a performance, people would be employed to maintain order among them and keep them from coming too near the participants.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "holds the ring",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "holding the ring",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "held the ring",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "held the ring",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "hold<,,held> the ring"
},
"expansion": "hold the ring (third-person singular simple present holds the ring, present participle holding the ring, simple past and past participle held the ring)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Sports",
"orig": "en:Sports",
"parents": [
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Theater",
"orig": "en:Theater",
"parents": [
"Art",
"Entertainment",
"Culture",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To maintain order among spectators encircling participants in a prizefight or a performance and keep them from coming too near the participants."
],
"id": "en-hold_the_ring-en-verb-5Ut8iDCO",
"links": [
[
"sports",
"sports"
],
[
"theater",
"theater"
],
[
"maintain",
"maintain"
],
[
"order",
"order#Noun"
],
[
"spectator",
"spectator"
],
[
"encircling",
"encircle"
],
[
"participant",
"participant"
],
[
"prizefight",
"prizefight"
],
[
"performance",
"performance"
],
[
"keep",
"keep#Verb"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(sports, theater, obsolete) To maintain order among spectators encircling participants in a prizefight or a performance and keep them from coming too near the participants."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "keep the ring"
}
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"topics": [
"entertainment",
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports",
"theater"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"To be a spectator at a fight; (figuratively) to watch other people argue."
],
"id": "en-hold_the_ring-en-verb-EwKhTt3W",
"links": [
[
"spectator",
"spectator"
],
[
"fight",
"fight#Noun"
],
[
"watch",
"watch#Verb"
],
[
"argue",
"argue"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Police held the ring during the protests.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1968, J. Hurstfield, “Social Structure, Office-holding and Politics, Chiefly in Western Europe”, in R[ichard] B[ruce] Wernham, editor, The New Cambridge Modern History, volumes III (The Counter-Reformation and Price Revolution 1559–1610), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 132:",
"text": "In England a century earlier it had been a struggle between two warring houses, in France it was now a struggle between three: Guise, Montmorency and Bourbon, with the feeble government of Catherine de Medici vainly trying to hold the ring.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1991, Martin [Gardiner] Bernal, “The Thera Eruption: From the Aegean to China”, in Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization, volumes II (The Archaeological and Documentary Evidence), New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, →ISBN, page 288:",
"text": "While this debate was going on in Nature another was being conduct in Archaeometry. This was between Betancourt – and his old colleague Michael – and Warren, with the English archaeometrist M. J. Aitken holding the ring.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Martin Wight, “International Anarchy”, in Hedley Bull, Carsten Holbraad, editors, Power Politics, →ISBN, page 100:",
"text": "It is the great powers that create international upheavals. In 1912–13 the Balkan powers fought two bitter wars among themselves, while the great powers held the ring.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006 August 31, “Holding the ring in the capital: Embedded with American troops in a volatile district, our correspondent asks how long they can prevent an all-out sectarian war”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 2016-03-06:",
"text": "Lieutenant-General Fry says that coalition forces will continue military operations \"to separate the two sides of the sectarian conflict\" but that such operations were meant to hold the ring until the politicians come up with a solution.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To oversee a situation while attempting to remain uninvolved in it."
],
"id": "en-hold_the_ring-en-verb-9wTil1K-",
"links": [
[
"oversee",
"oversee"
],
[
"situation",
"situation"
],
[
"uninvolved",
"uninvolved"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly British, idiomatic) To oversee a situation while attempting to remain uninvolved in it."
],
"tags": [
"British",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Sports",
"orig": "en:Sports",
"parents": [
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "23 5 23 50",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "24 4 21 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "21 4 21 53",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Of a prizefighter: to hold one's own during a fight; to continue winning a series of fights."
],
"id": "en-hold_the_ring-en-verb-kG4-qR8s",
"links": [
[
"sports",
"sports"
],
[
"prizefighter",
"prizefighter"
],
[
"hold one's own",
"hold one's own"
],
[
"continue",
"continue"
],
[
"winning",
"win#Verb"
],
[
"series",
"series"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(sports) Of a prizefighter: to hold one's own during a fight; to continue winning a series of fights."
],
"topics": [
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈhəʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈhɔʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈhoʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-hold the ring.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/En-au-hold_the_ring.ogg/En-au-hold_the_ring.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/En-au-hold_the_ring.ogg"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Imperial War Museum",
"Royal Navy"
],
"word": "hold the ring"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_text": "Probably from keep the ring. In days past when spectators would encircle participants in a prizefight or a performance, people would be employed to maintain order among them and keep them from coming too near the participants.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "holds the ring",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "holding the ring",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "held the ring",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "held the ring",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "hold<,,held> the ring"
},
"expansion": "hold the ring (third-person singular simple present holds the ring, present participle holding the ring, simple past and past participle held the ring)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with obsolete senses",
"en:Sports",
"en:Theater"
],
"glosses": [
"To maintain order among spectators encircling participants in a prizefight or a performance and keep them from coming too near the participants."
],
"links": [
[
"sports",
"sports"
],
[
"theater",
"theater"
],
[
"maintain",
"maintain"
],
[
"order",
"order#Noun"
],
[
"spectator",
"spectator"
],
[
"encircling",
"encircle"
],
[
"participant",
"participant"
],
[
"prizefight",
"prizefight"
],
[
"performance",
"performance"
],
[
"keep",
"keep#Verb"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(sports, theater, obsolete) To maintain order among spectators encircling participants in a prizefight or a performance and keep them from coming too near the participants."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "keep the ring"
}
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"topics": [
"entertainment",
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports",
"theater"
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"To be a spectator at a fight; (figuratively) to watch other people argue."
],
"links": [
[
"spectator",
"spectator"
],
[
"fight",
"fight#Noun"
],
[
"watch",
"watch#Verb"
],
[
"argue",
"argue"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Police held the ring during the protests.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1968, J. Hurstfield, “Social Structure, Office-holding and Politics, Chiefly in Western Europe”, in R[ichard] B[ruce] Wernham, editor, The New Cambridge Modern History, volumes III (The Counter-Reformation and Price Revolution 1559–1610), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 132:",
"text": "In England a century earlier it had been a struggle between two warring houses, in France it was now a struggle between three: Guise, Montmorency and Bourbon, with the feeble government of Catherine de Medici vainly trying to hold the ring.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1991, Martin [Gardiner] Bernal, “The Thera Eruption: From the Aegean to China”, in Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization, volumes II (The Archaeological and Documentary Evidence), New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, →ISBN, page 288:",
"text": "While this debate was going on in Nature another was being conduct in Archaeometry. This was between Betancourt – and his old colleague Michael – and Warren, with the English archaeometrist M. J. Aitken holding the ring.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Martin Wight, “International Anarchy”, in Hedley Bull, Carsten Holbraad, editors, Power Politics, →ISBN, page 100:",
"text": "It is the great powers that create international upheavals. In 1912–13 the Balkan powers fought two bitter wars among themselves, while the great powers held the ring.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006 August 31, “Holding the ring in the capital: Embedded with American troops in a volatile district, our correspondent asks how long they can prevent an all-out sectarian war”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 2016-03-06:",
"text": "Lieutenant-General Fry says that coalition forces will continue military operations \"to separate the two sides of the sectarian conflict\" but that such operations were meant to hold the ring until the politicians come up with a solution.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To oversee a situation while attempting to remain uninvolved in it."
],
"links": [
[
"oversee",
"oversee"
],
[
"situation",
"situation"
],
[
"uninvolved",
"uninvolved"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly British, idiomatic) To oversee a situation while attempting to remain uninvolved in it."
],
"tags": [
"British",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"en:Sports"
],
"glosses": [
"Of a prizefighter: to hold one's own during a fight; to continue winning a series of fights."
],
"links": [
[
"sports",
"sports"
],
[
"prizefighter",
"prizefighter"
],
[
"hold one's own",
"hold one's own"
],
[
"continue",
"continue"
],
[
"winning",
"win#Verb"
],
[
"series",
"series"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(sports) Of a prizefighter: to hold one's own during a fight; to continue winning a series of fights."
],
"topics": [
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈhəʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈhɔʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈhoʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-hold the ring.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/En-au-hold_the_ring.ogg/En-au-hold_the_ring.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/En-au-hold_the_ring.ogg"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Imperial War Museum",
"Royal Navy"
],
"word": "hold the ring"
}
Download raw JSONL data for hold the ring meaning in All languages combined (5.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.