ring up

Meanings

1. 1verbphrasal verbBritishinformal

   To telephone someone.

   Grammar: Separable: ring her up or ring up her.

   Patterns

   • ring someone up
   • ring up someone

   I'll ring you up when the train arrives.

   She rang up the plumber first thing in the morning.

   Why don't you ring up your aunt and say thank you?

2. 2verbphrasal verb

   To enter the price of goods into a cash register so the customer can pay.

   Grammar: Separable: ring up the items or ring the items up.

   Patterns

   • ring up something
   • ring something up

   The cashier rang up my groceries quickly.

   He rang up three sandwiches and a coffee.

3. 3verbphrasal verbbusiness

   To achieve or record a particular amount in sales or points.

   Grammar: Takes an object, usually a number: ring up record profits.

   Patterns

   • ring up sales
   • ring up a win

   The shop rang up record sales over the holiday weekend.

   The team rang up its fifth win in a row.

Word forms

Common combinations

ring up a friend

I rang up a friend to ask about the homework.

ring up a sale

The clerk rang up a sale for a bicycle.

ring up the total

Wait while I ring up the total.

ring up profits

The firm rang up healthy profits last quarter.

Synonyms and how they differ

call

Call is neutral and used everywhere, while ring up sounds more British and chatty.

phone

Phone can take no particle and feels slightly more formal than ring up.

ring

Ring is the shorter British form; ring up adds nothing to the meaning in most sentences.

chalk up

Chalk up is used only for achievements and scores, not for phoning.

Opposites

Word family

ring verb

to telephone, or to make a bell sound

ringer noun

the part of a phone that rings

ringing noun

the sound of a bell or phone

Commonly confused: ring up or wring up?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “ring up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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