ringer:
(plural: ‘ringers‘; for the right pronunciation of this word, please click here)
(a sculpture of bell ringers)
a person who rings bells as in a church; a bell-ringer;
a person who encircles something;
(also ‘dead ringer’) a person who looks almost the same as another; a double;
(mostly in American usage) a person/player (or a horse or dog in a race) that enters a contest against the rules, usually with false documents that show their eligibility;
(in Australia & New Zealand) the fastest shearer in a group shearing together (‘to shear’ = to cut the hair (wool) off a sheep),
a pair of dead ringers
Joseph has been the ringer of our community church for fifty years now, and never a Sunday or any special day gone without his ringing the bells in all these years.
Daniel is the ringer/dead ringer for his brother, David.
Carlos, a retired professional runner, became a ringer and had won several collegiate running competitions and had earned a lot of money until he was finally caught by the Sports Authority and got suspended from sports of any type for life, and the college sports committee that used him as a ringer was suspended, too.
Most shearers in Australia and New Zealand try hard to be ringers as ringers earn more in the short shearing season.
Note 2: ‘Ringer’, always with a capital ‘R’, is found in the names of people, e.g. For an article that explains the origins of this word as a surname/last name/family name, please click here.
