ring-a-ring o’ roses
noun /ˌrɪŋ ə ˌrɪŋ ə ˈrəʊzɪz/
/ˌrɪŋ ə ˌrɪŋ ə ˈrəʊzɪz/
(British English) (North American English ring around the rosy
[uncountable] /ˌrɪŋ əˌraʊnd ðə ˈrəʊzi/
/ˌrɪŋ əˌraʊnd ðə ˈrəʊzi/
)- a singing game played by children, in which the players hold hands and dance in a circle, falling down at the end of the songTopics Games and toysc2Word Originsaid to refer to the inflamed (“rose-coloured”) ring of buboes, symptomatic of the plague; the final part of the game is symbolic of death.