Definition of ringer

noun

• a professional sports player who plays fraudulently on a non-professional team.

  Last edited on Sep 23 2011. Submitted by Walter Rader (Editor) from Sacramento, CA, USA on Aug 31 2009.

• any athlete who benefits from dishonestly conferred advantages

  The celebrated Russian Turgin twins were accused by some of being ringers when neither sister competed at Tokyo, 1964 - the first games where mandatory gender testing was implemented by the International Olympic Committee.

  With billions of dollars gambled on sporting events daily, it would be naive to dismiss the presence of ringers, especially with the advent of 'point spreads'; the skill required to sink a 3-pointer seemingly without effort could be used to miss as [the] ball bounces off [the] inside of [the] rim and [the] player expresses mock anger... while the team goes on to win, the fans happy and none the wiser.

  Last edited on Sep 23 2011. Submitted by Walter Rader (Editor) from Sacramento, CA, USA on Aug 31 2009.

• ringer - a professional (paid) musician, dancer or actor hired to bolster the quality of the performance and increase the pleasure of performers and audience alike, especially in amateur groups. There is no negative connotation and no implication of fraud.
  
  Eg. There were a couple of ringers in the string section of the orchestra.

  Last edited on Mar 13 2017. Submitted by Anonymous on Mar 13 2017.