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rung

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rung¹

  • /ˈɹʌŋ/
  • /ˈɹɜŋ/
  • /ˈɹɐ̞ŋ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈɹäŋ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈɹʊŋ/ Ireland, Midlands, Northern England
  • /ˈɹʊŋɡ/ Ireland, Midlands, Northern England

Sounds like rng, wrung · Rhymes with -ʌŋ

Where it comes from

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”).

noun rungs

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

    Similar: spoke

  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. figuratively A position in a hierarchy. the lowest rung of the society

    Similar: echelon

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

rung²

  • /ˈɹʌŋ/
  • /ˈɹɜŋ/
  • /ˈɹɐ̞ŋ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈɹäŋ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈɹʊŋ/ Ireland, Midlands, Northern England
  • /ˈɹʊŋɡ/ Ireland, Midlands, Northern England

Sounds like rng, wrung · Rhymes with -ʌŋ

Where it comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb

  1. participle, past past participle of ring (only in senses related to a bell)
  2. dialectal, past simple past of ring With ecchoing Shouts the vaulted Chamber rung, / Belle Chuck was now the TOAST of ev'ry Tongue.

adjective

  1. not comparable 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.

Rung³

proper noun Rungs

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: rundle, spoke, stave, round, scale, ladder, step, level, echelon, come, called, sounded, bar, tread, crossbar, crosspiece

Translations

Every language

noun ladder step

Españolpeldaño
中文梯級 /梯级 tījí
Portuguêsdegrau
Françaisbarreau
DeutschSprosse, Leitersprosse
Italianoscalino, piolo
Ελληνικάσκαλί skalí
Românătreaptă
Русскийступе́нька stupénʹka, ступе́нь stupénʹ
Tiếng Việtbậc
العربيةدَرَجَة daraja

noun crosspiece between chair legs

Españoltravesaño
Portuguêstravessa
Françaisbarreau
DeutschQuerstab
Italianotraversa
Русскийперекла́дина perekládina

noun a position in a hierarchy

Españolescalón, peldaño
Françaiséchelon

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"rung." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rung. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rung. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rung

Chicago

"rung." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rung.

BibTeX
@misc{rung_2026,
  title = {rung},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rung},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}