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ringmaster

nounB2Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,363 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: ringmasters

The ringmaster is the person who introduces each act in the circus ring. The ringmaster's whistle, a red-coated ringmaster, act as ringmaster.

The red coat and top hat come from the riding master of an eighteenth-century riding school, which is where the circus itself began. Figuratively a ringmaster is whoever is keeping a chaotic occasion moving.

AlejandroLinaresGarcia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of ringmaster

  1. 1nounringmasterThe person who introduces each act in the ring.B2

    “The ringmaster cracked his whip and announced the next act, the flying trapeze.”

ringmaster is a performer.

Where it comes from

Ring plus master. The circus ring took its name and its master from the riding schools.

From ring + master.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Circus & Fairground

Practise this word

ringmaster in the wild

  • Johnathan Lee Iverson is an American ringmaster who is the first African-American ringmaster of a major U.S. circus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

    Johnathan Lee Iverson

  • In smaller circuses, the ringmaster is often the owner and artistic director of the circus.

    Ringmaster (circus)

  • Unlike a Horse show steward or the judge, the ringmaster is not a licensed official of the show.

    Ringmaster (horse show)

  • At the biggest shows, the ringmaster may be a paid employee of the show, but at smaller shows is apt to be a volunteer.

    Ringmaster (horse show)

  • Locke received his ringmaster costume for the show on the last episode of Paddleboat.

    Ned Locke

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.