ring up

ring someone up

to call someone on the telephone. I will ring her up when I get a chance. I have to ring up a whole list of people.

See also: ring, up

ring something up

to record the cost of an item on a cash register. Please ring this chewing gum up first, and I'll put it in my purse. The cashier rang up each item and told me how much money I owed.

See also: ring, up

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ring up something

to earn or lose a particular amount of money His division, which employs about 300 people worldwide, rang up $50 million in sales last year.

See also: ring, up

ring up something also ring something up

to record the prices of items being bought Their groceries had already been rung up at the cash register. If a sales clerk forgets to ring something up do you call it to his or her attention?

Usage notes: from pushing keys on an old-fashioned cash register (a machine that records a sale and stores the money received), which made a ringing sound

See also: ring, up