rung

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɹʌŋ/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ʌŋ
• Homophones: rng, wrung

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”).

rung (plural rungs)

1. A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.
2. A crosspiece between legs of a chair.
   • 1854, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Feathertop: a Moralized Legend”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:

     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. (figurative) A position in a hierarchy.

   the lowest rung of the society

   • 2023 June 15, Kat Moon, “Ashley Park’s Main Character Energy From ‘Joy Ride’ Is Here To Stay: ‘I’m Treating Myself Like A Lead Now’”, in Women's Health‎:

     “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. (nautical, dated) A floor timber in a ship.
5. (dated) One of the stakes of a cart; a spar; a heavy staff.
6. (engineering, dated) One of the radial handles projecting from the rim of a steering wheel.
7. (engineering, dated) One of the pins or trundles of a lantern wheel.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

rung

1. past participle of ring (only in senses related to a bell)
2. (chiefly dialectal) simple past of ring
   • 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, section VI:

     With ecchoing Shouts the vaulted Chamber rung, / Belle Chuck was now the TOAST of ev'ry Tongue.

   • 1906, South Carolina. General Assembly, Report of State Officers, Board and Committees to the General ...‎, page 229:

     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.

   • 1996, Peter Golenbock, Wrigleyville: A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs‎, page 435:

     So they rung him up, and the next day he came to me and wanted to know where that pitch was.

   • 2008, Dean Kuipers, Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke‎, page 70:

     "I just rung him up, told him I was looking for an apartment and some work and got both of them the same day," Moe said.

rung (not comparable)

1. Of a pig: having a ring through the nose.
   • 1842, American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine, volume 13, page 335:

     […] he passed by his gate with a decided scowl on his furrowed brow, and grunting and growling like a newly rung pig.

   • 1919, Popular Science, volume 95, number 4, page 31:

     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.

Rang and rung are incorrect for the past of ring in the sense of encircle, where ringed is used instead.

Rung as a simple past is usually considered incorrect.

• Rung in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• gurn

From (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

rung

1. logboat, dugout canoe

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

Borrowed from Burmese ရုံး (rum:).

rung

1. office

• Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎, volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

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rung • (㧤, 容, 慵, 搈, 𢫝, 𢲣, 𢴋, 𢹈)

1. to put in motion; to shake; to agitate; to ring (bell)