rung

CEFRB2

/rˈʌŋ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A horizontal bar on a ladder or between chair legs.

  2. 02

    verb

    Past tense of ring; made a clear sound.

Examples

  • I ran to school, but the bell had already rung.

  • Has the bell rung?

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A crosspiece between legs of a chair.

  2. A position in a hierarchy.

  3. A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.

More examples

In context

  • 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.”

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

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The repairman stepped on the lowest blank of the ladder to reach the roof.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).