fairy ring
1
7.7
- noun
- /ˈfɛri rɪŋ/
:
anillo de hadas
- The children were excited to discover a fairy ring in the garden, believing it to be a magical place.
- known as a fairy ring
Examples
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"But if you ask him to dig out the fairy ring on his property, he won't do it.
Blog text (23) -
She looks down at her hand and realizes her fairy ring is gone.
-
Sounds gnomish, a fairy ring of mushrooms.
Fiction book (2001) -
Guided by the sound of rushing water, they climbed to the summit of the pass, where the standing stone stood amid fairy rings.
Fiction book (1999) -
Here, the land opened up, revealing a patch of high, treeless moorland with an ancient standing stone in its center, surrounded by fairy rings.
Fiction book (1999) -
"Do Irish people actually believe in fairies?" I ask, straining but failing to catch a glimpse of the typical fairy ring to which Ian has just pointed.
Blog text (23) -
In the forest, we stumbled upon a beautiful circle of mushrooms, called a fairy ring.
-
Legends say that when you see a fairy ring, it means fairies dance there at night.
Synonyms
A ring of mushrooms that grow where the fungus spreads under the ground
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'fairy' (mythical creature) and 'ring' (circular formation) make it plausible to infer a circular or magical formation, so a learner would grasp that it names some kind of circle associated with fairies. However, the specific referent — a naturally occurring ring of mushrooms — is not directly derivable from the constituents, so the relation is only partially predictable.
Etymology
The noun fairy ring may come from old stories where fairies danced in a circle and left the grass thin, so mushrooms grew in a ring. That's why a round group of mushrooms is called a 'fairy ring' today.