A Topical Dictionary: Search for ringleader

Dictionary Results For "ringleader" [?]/[OPML]

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Wiktionary Articles [RSS] - [GNU, www.Wiktionary.org]

English

Etymology

ring + leader

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈrɪŋˌliːdər/

Noun

a leader of a group of people, especially an unofficial group
a person who starts and leads a disturbance (such as a riot), a conspiracy, or a criminal gang
* The police arrested the ringleaders of the smuggling operation.
*(1590): William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part 2: A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent, / Under the countenance and confederacy / Of Lady Eleanor, the protector's wife, / The ringleader and head of all this rout, / Have practis'd dangerously against your state...

Translations

German: Rädelsführer

io:ringleader pl:ringleader ru:ringleader ta:ringleader te:ringleader vi:ringleader zh:ringleader

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Ringleader \Ring"lead`er\, n.
1. The leader of a circle of dancers; hence, the leader of a
number of persons acting together; the leader of a herd of
animals.
[1913 Webster]

A primacy of order, such an one as the ringleader
hath in a dance. --Barrow.
[1913 Webster]

2. Opprobriously, a leader of a body of men engaged in the
violation of law or in an illegal enterprise, as rioters,
mutineers, or the like.
[1913 Webster]

The ringleaders were apprehended, tried, fined, and
imprisoned. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]

WordNet ringleader
n : a person who leads (especially in illicit activities)

Moby Dictionary
Mahdi , agent provocateur , agitator , agitprop , bell cow , bell mare ,
bellwether , born leader , boss , cacique , catalyst ,
charismatic leader , choirmaster , choragus , conductor , coryphaeus ,
demagogue , duce , exciter , file leader , firebrand , fomenter ,
forerunner , fugleman , incendiary , inciter , inflamer ,
inspired leader , instigator , keynoter , leader , leader of men ,
man higher up , messiah , mischief-maker , pacemaker , pacesetter ,
policy maker , precentor , provocateur , provoker , rabble-rouser ,
rouser , sachem , seditionary , seditionist , standard-bearer ,
symphonic conductor , torchbearer , troublemaker , urger