ring out
To ring a special clock that records the time you leave work.
Charles can't leave early in his new job; he has to ring out.
ring the changes
To say or do the same thing in different ways; repeat the same idea in many ways.
David wanted a new bicycle and he kept ringing the changes on it all day until his parents got angry at him.
A smart girl saves money on clothes by learning to ring the changes on a few dresses and clothes.
ring true
To have a tone of genuineness; sound convincing.
I believed his sob story about how he lost his fortune, because somehow it all rang true.
ring up
To add and record on a cash register.
The supermarket clerk rang up Mrs. Smith's purchases and told her she owed $33.
Business was bad Tuesday; we didn't ring up a sale all morning.
To telephone.
Sally rang up Sue and told her the news.
ringleader
The chief of an unsavory group; a higher-up.
The FBI finally caught up with the ringleader of the dope smugglers from South America.
rip into
tear into
To start a fight with; attack.
The puppy is tearing into the big dog.
To quarrel with; scold.
Mrs. Brown ripped into her daughter for coming home late.
roasting ear
An ear of corn young and tender enough to be cooked and eaten; also corn cooked on the cob.
The scouts buried the roasting ears in the coals of their campfire.
At the Fourth of July picnic we had fried chicken and roasting ears.
rob the cradle
cradle robber
cradle robbing
cradle-robber
cradle-robbing
To have dates with or marry a person much younger than yourself.
When the old woman married a young man, everyone said she was robbing the cradle.
The judge died when he was seventy. He was a real cradle-robber because he left a thirty-year-old widow.
Bob is seventeen and I just saw him with a girl about twelve years old. Has he started cradle-robbing? No, that girl was his sister, not his date!