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 LoonExamples 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 Web
Massimo Marioni, Fortune, 23 June 2025
After tearing through the third rung of professional women’s tennis in 2024, the FFT awarded Boisson a wild card for that year’s French Open.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 19 June 2025
Almost 2,500 of those were pure purchases, and that was just enough to send the decade-old effort to the lowest rung on the Top Album Sales chart.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
The data crunchers at LinkedIn have noticed a similar trend, prompting one of its executives to claim the bottom rung of the career ladder was breaking.
—Mike Burbach, Twin Cities, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for rung
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Noun
But Dan Shapero, chief operating officer at LinkedIn, isn’t ready to declare the bottom rung of the career ladder broken—at least not yet.
—Massimo Marioni, Fortune, 23 June 2025
After tearing through the third rung of professional women’s tennis in 2024, the FFT awarded Boisson a wild card for that year’s French Open.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 19 June 2025
Almost 2,500 of those were pure purchases, and that was just enough to send the decade-old effort to the lowest rung on the Top Album Sales chart.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
The data crunchers at LinkedIn have noticed a similar trend, prompting one of its executives to claim the bottom rung of the career ladder was breaking.
—Mike Burbach, Twin Cities, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for rung
Cite this Entry
“Rung.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rung. Accessed 29 Jun. 2025.
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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