hold the ring

== English == === Etymology === Probably from keep the ring. In days past when spectators would encircle participants in a prizefight or a performance, people would be employed to maintain order among them and keep them from coming too near the participants. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhəʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/, /ˈhɔʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhoʊld ðə ˌɹɪŋ/ === Verb === hold the ring (third-person singular simple present holds the ring, present participle holding the ring, simple past and past participle held the ring) (sports, theater, obsolete) To maintain order among spectators encircling participants in a prizefight or a performance and keep them from coming too near the participants. Synonym: keep the ring To be a spectator at a fight; (figuratively) to watch other people argue. (chiefly British, idiomatic) To oversee a situation while attempting to remain uninvolved in it. (sports) Of a prizefighter: to hold one's own during a fight; to continue winning a series of fights. === References ===