ring up
Britishverb
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to make a telephone call (to)
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(tr) to record on a cash register
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(tr) to chronicle; record
to ring up another success
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to begin a theatrical performance
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(often foll by on) to make a start (on)
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Record, especially by means of a cash register, as in They had already rung up the sale so I decided not to get the extra items . [c. 1930] Although older cash registers usually signaled a recorded sale with the ringing of a bell, the idiom survives in the age of computers.
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Accomplish, achieve, as in They rang up an impressive string of victories .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It could ring up $11 billion in peak yearly sales, analysts project.
“Blast! I came here to hear dead people talking, and I’m not leaving until I do. Who else can you ring up?”
From Literature
Cashiers typed in a long string of digits to ring up orders.
Since January, the agency has let Kalshi, Crypto.com, and other prediction marketers list dozens of sports propositions —ringing up more than $1 billion in volume.
From Barron's
The chicken bake — Costco’s breaded delicacy stuffed with strips of chicken breast, bacon, cheese, green onions and Caesar dressing — is ringing up for $1 more at the food court.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
