1
a
: a rounded crosspiece between the legs of a chair
b
: one of the crosspieces of a ladder
2
Scotland
: a heavy staff or cudgel
3
: a spoke of a wheel
4
: a level in a hierarchy
rise a few rungs on the social scale—
H. W. Van Loon
H. W. Van LoonSynonyms
Examples of rung in a Sentence
Noun
He was on the bottom rung on the corporate ladder.
the top rung of society
the lowest rung of the pay scale
Recent Examples on the WebRon Elving, NPR, 27 Apr. 2024
The jobs most immediately at risk are those performed by analysts at the bottom rung of the investment banking business, who put in endless hours to learn the building blocks of corporate finance, including the intricacies of mergers, public offerings and bond deals.
—Rob Copeland, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
The next rung up the missile defense ladder is David’s Sling, which protects against short- and medium-range threats, according to the IMDO.
—Brad Lendon, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024
Intel has basically been a process node behind Nvidia for generations of Gaudi, so it’s been stuck comparing its latest chip to one that was at least one rung higher on the Moore’s Law ladder.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Apr. 2024
Contestants, often displaying dubious performance skills, were rated by a panel of celebrity judges drawn from the rung of the showbiz ladder that included Arte Johnson, Jamie Farr, and Rip Taylor.
—Tanner Stransky, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2024
What the research makes clear is that the broken rung is holding back women’s career advancement.
—Liz Elting, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
As if filling half of the spaces inside the top 10 on this vinyl sales chart wasn’t impressive enough, Swift’s name also appears in more than one spot below the No. 10 rung.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
In 1909, she wed American businessman Robert Scott, a match that lifted her out of the lower-middle class and dropped her squarely on society’s upper rungs.
—Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
Noun
Prior to the GOP's 40-year sentence as the minority party, several of its speakers had risen to the top rung largely on their personal popularity among their colleagues.
—Ron Elving, NPR, 27 Apr. 2024
The jobs most immediately at risk are those performed by analysts at the bottom rung of the investment banking business, who put in endless hours to learn the building blocks of corporate finance, including the intricacies of mergers, public offerings and bond deals.
—Rob Copeland, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
The next rung up the missile defense ladder is David’s Sling, which protects against short- and medium-range threats, according to the IMDO.
—Brad Lendon, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024
Intel has basically been a process node behind Nvidia for generations of Gaudi, so it’s been stuck comparing its latest chip to one that was at least one rung higher on the Moore’s Law ladder.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 Apr. 2024
Contestants, often displaying dubious performance skills, were rated by a panel of celebrity judges drawn from the rung of the showbiz ladder that included Arte Johnson, Jamie Farr, and Rip Taylor.
—Tanner Stransky, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2024
What the research makes clear is that the broken rung is holding back women’s career advancement.
—Liz Elting, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
As if filling half of the spaces inside the top 10 on this vinyl sales chart wasn’t impressive enough, Swift’s name also appears in more than one spot below the No. 10 rung.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
In 1909, she wed American businessman Robert Scott, a match that lifted her out of the lower-middle class and dropped her squarely on society’s upper rungs.
—Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rung.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rung
Cite this Entry
“Rung.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rung. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rung
1 of 2past participle of ring entry 3
rung
2 of 2 noun
: a rounded part placed as a crosspiece between the legs of a chair
also
: one of the crosspieces of a ladder
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