Plover \Plov"er\, n. [OF. plovier, F. pluvier, prop., the rain
bird, fr. LL. (assumed) pluviarius, fr. L. pluvia rain, from
pluere to rain; akin to E. float, G. fliessen to flow. See
Float.]
1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds
belonging to the family Charadrid[ae], and especially
those belonging to the subfamily Charadrins[ae]. They
are prized as game birds.
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2. (Zool.) Any grallatorial bird allied to, or resembling,
the true plovers, as the crab plover (Dromas ardeola);
the American upland, plover (Bartramia longicauda); and
other species of sandpipers.
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Note: Among the more important species are the blackbellied
plover or blackbreasted plover (Charadrius
squatarola) of America and Europe; -- called also
gray plover, bull-head plover, Swiss plover, sea
plover, and oxeye; the golden plover (see under
Golden); the ring plover or ringed plover
(Aegialitis hiaticula). See Ringneck. The piping
plover (Aegialitis meloda); Wilson's plover
(Aegialitis Wilsonia); the mountain plover
(Aegialitis montana); and the semipalmated plover
(Aegialitis semipalmata), are all small American
species.
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Bastard plover (Zool.), the lapwing.
Long-legged plover, or yellow-legged plover. See
Tattler.
Plover's page, the dunlin. [Prov. Eng.]
Rock plover, or Stone plover, the black-bellied plover.
[Prov. Eng.]
Whistling plover.
(a) The golden plover.
(b) The black-bellied plover.
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Ring \Ring\, n. [AS. hring, hrinc; akin to Fries. hring, D. & G.
ring, OHG. ring, hring, Icel. hringr, DAn. & SW. ring; cf.
Russ. krug'. Cf. Harangue, Rank a row,Rink.]
A circle, or a circular line, or anything in the form of a
circular line or hoop.
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2. Specifically, a circular ornament of gold or other
precious material worn on the finger, or attached to the
ear, the nose, or some other part of the person; as, a
wedding ring.
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Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring. --Chaucer.
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The dearest ring in Venice will I give you. --Shak.
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3. A circular area in which races are or run or other sports
are performed; an arena.
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Place me, O, place me in the dusty ring,
Where youthful charioteers contend for glory. --E.
Smith.
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4. An inclosed space in which pugilists fight; hence,
figuratively, prize fighting. "The road was an
institution, the ring was an institution." --Thackeray.
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5. A circular group of persons.
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And hears the Muses in a ring
Aye round about Jove's alter sing. --Milton.
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6. (Geom.)
(a) The plane figure included between the circumferences
of two concentric circles.
(b) The solid generated by the revolution of a circle, or
other figure, about an exterior straight line (as an
axis) lying in the same plane as the circle or other
figure.
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7. (Astron. & Navigation) An instrument, formerly used for
taking the sun's altitude, consisting of a brass ring
suspended by a swivel, with a hole at one side through
which a solar ray entering indicated the altitude on the
graduated inner surface opposite.
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8. (Bot.) An elastic band partly or wholly encircling the
spore cases of ferns. See Illust. of Sporangium.
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9. A clique; an exclusive combination of persons for a
selfish purpose, as to control the market, distribute
offices, obtain contracts, etc.
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The ruling ring at Constantinople. --E. A.
Freeman.
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Ring armor, armor composed of rings of metal. See Ring
mail, below, and Chain mail, under Chain.
Ring blackbird (Zool.), the ring ousel.
Ring canal (Zool.), the circular water tube which surrounds
the esophagus of echinoderms.
Ring dotterel, or Ringed dotterel. (Zool.) See
Dotterel, and Illust. of Pressiroster.
Ring dropper, a sharper who pretends to have found a ring
(dropped by himself), and tries to induce another to buy
it as valuable, it being worthless.
Ring fence. See under Fence.
Ring finger, the third finger of the left hand, or the next
the little finger, on which the ring is placed in
marriage.
Ring formula (Chem.), a graphic formula in the shape of a
closed ring, as in the case of benzene, pyridine, etc. See
Illust. under Benzene.
Ring mail, a kind of mail made of small steel rings sewed
upon a garment of leather or of cloth.
Ring micrometer. (Astron.) See Circular micrometer, under
Micrometer.
Saturn's rings. See Saturn.
Ring ousel. (Zool.) See Ousel.
Ring parrot (Zool.), any one of several species of Old
World parrakeets having a red ring around the neck,
especially Palaeornis torquatus, common in India, and
Palaeornis Alexandri of Java.
Ring plover. (Zool.)
(a) The ringed dotterel.
(b) Any one of several small American plovers having a
dark ring around the neck, as the semipalmated plover
(Aegialitis semipalmata).
Ring snake (Zool.), a small harmless American snake
(Diadophis punctatus) having a white ring around the
neck. The back is ash-colored, or sage green, the belly of
an orange red.
Ring stopper. (Naut.) See under Stopper.
Ring thrush (Zool.), the ring ousel.
The prize ring, the ring in which prize fighters contend;
prize fighters, collectively.
The ring.
(a) The body of sporting men who bet on horse races.
[Eng.]
(b) The prize ring.
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