ringing engine

English

Noun

ringing engine (plural ringing engines)

1. (historical, engineering) A simple pile driver in which the monkey (rammer) is lifted by workers pulling ropes.
   • 1842, John Timperley, An Account of the Harbour and Docks at Kingston-upon-Hull:

     The foundations are all piled, with a row of 6 inch grooved sheeting piles in front; the bearing piles are 9 inches, the counterfort piles 8 inches diameter. They were all driven with a ringing engine and a ram of nearly 4 cwt., worked by fifteen or sixteen men

References

• “ringing”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.