ringside seat

Idioms

A place providing a close view of something, as in We lived right next door, so we had ringside seats for their quarrels. This term presumably came from boxing, where it denotes the seats just outside the boxing ring. [c. 1860]

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.

He’d paid for a ringside seat, boasted to all his friends that he’d be “right there” to witness the action and never saw a thing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025

A ringside seat at the White House was something earned through decades of slogging through the political and journalistic mud.

From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025

If I was not boxing Joshua Buatsi in just a few weeks' time I would be trying everything I could to get a ringside seat in Quebec.

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2024

The man with a ringside seat for much of the last century of Washington history will turn 96 on Saturday.

From Washington Times • Dec. 27, 2023

And that’s not all—apparently he told someone who worked for the circus that he used to carry water for the elephants, and they upgraded his ticket to a ringside seat!

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023