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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
I used to ring up Freeman Dyson, the famed physicist, at the slightest excuse.
From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025
At their best, sci-fi movies can ring up massive box-office returns and gain serious awards-season traction, with the original “Avatar” and “Star Wars” just two top examples.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2024
I used to ring up people like Alex Ferguson and Mick McCarthy and I remember Mick asking how it was going.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2024
“The reporter will ring up someone else,” I said.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
