Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who leads others, especially in illicit or informal activities.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who leads a ring, as of dancers; one who opens a ball.
- noun Hence The leader or chief in any enterprise; particularly, one who leads and incites others to the violation of the law or the recognized rules of society: as, the ringleader in a riot or a mutiny.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The leader of a circle of dancers; hence, the leader of a number of persons acting together; the leader of a herd of animals.
- noun Opprobriously, a leader of a body of men engaged in the violation of law or in an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers, or the like.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
leader of agroup of people, especially anunofficial group - noun a person who starts and leads a
disturbance (such as a riot), aconspiracy , or acriminal gang
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person who leads (especially in illicit activities)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Notice the teabagger ringleader is obviously a huge Captain America fan.
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All those mischievous gremlins populating the comic -- including the misbehavin 'ringleader "Not Me" -- deserve some serious CGI time on the big screen.
5 Rules for making 'FAMILY CIRCUS' into the newly announced live-action film Michael Cavna 2010
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They will also come into contact with a traveling carnival which also seeks out people with abilities and whose sinister ringleader is played by new cast member Robert Knepper (Prison Break).
September « 2009 « Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy 2009
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They will also come into contact with a traveling carnival which also seeks out people with abilities and whose sinister ringleader is played by new cast member Robert Knepper (Prison Break).
Countdown to Fall: A Few Spoilers for the Upcoming Shows 2009
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They will also come into contact with a traveling carnival which also seeks out people with abilities and whose sinister ringleader is played by new cast member Robert Knepper (Prison Break).
08 « September « 2009 « Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy 2009
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Authorities say they have arrested someone they describe as a ringleader of the attack.
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Authorities say they have arrested someone they describe as a ringleader of the attack.
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The turnaround came when Sister Maximilian began to take 7-year-old Rosie, whom she identified as the ringleader,'' for frequent walks.
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Fourthly, Of the final day of judgment: all the obstinate enemies of Christ's gospel and kingdom shall certainly be reckoned with at last, for the devil, their ringleader, is judged.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) 1721
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She claimed that the ringleader was a cousin of Gadhafi and son of a government minister.
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