Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
⏪ To undo effects 🔕 To stop ringing 🐖 To remove a ring
to unring

to unring

9.9
To try to undo harm caused by words or actions
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈrɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : deshacer
  • Once you meet a person like that, you can't unring that bell.

If they gaslight you, you can't unring that.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Now, if you can remember just this simple truth that you cannot unring a bell, you can learn from this proverb.

  • Once you make a statement like that, you can't unring it.

  • Now, if you can remember just a simple truth that you cannot unring a bell, you can learn from this proverb.

  • You can't unring bells and they get wrong.

    Julian Dorey

  • Yes, unringing the bell would be hard, and we might end up with the same outcome.

    Blog text (22)

  • How they'll be removing it from Google archives and unringing the bell remains to be seen.

    Blog text (32)

  • Once paint film is cracked, we can't uncrack it, you can't unring a bell, and you can't unbreak a cup if it falls.

  • He realized he couldn't unring the controversial comment he had made during the meeting.

  • After she sent the email, she wished she could unring her earlier accusation.

Synonyms

to unring the bell
vsto unring
  • Informal
1 9.9

To try to undo something after it has happened and cannot be changed

tries to undo effects even when reversal may still be possible

Idioms

to unring the bell
  • Informal
1 9.9

To try to undo something after it has happened and cannot be changed

How Reversible

to restore
219 3.5
to undo
102 2.6
to unring
  • Informal
9.9
to correct
483 1.0
to mitigate
63 5.8
to apologize
  • US
∞ 1.7

Surface Forms

unring infinitive
unringing present participle
unrings third person singular
unrang past
unrang past participle

Morphology

unring = ring (opaque) = un + ring

The prefix 'un-' typically means to reverse an action, but 'unring' is metaphorical and does not refer to a literal reversal of ringing.

Etymology

Unring comes from the parts un- ('reverse' or 'not') and ring, the sound of a bell, so imagine trying to put sound back into a bell. So to unring something in this sense means to try to undo words or actions—something you usually cannot truly 'un-ring'.