ringlet

noun

1. A small ring.
2. A lock, tress.

   “Her hair was in ringlets.”

   “For knovv by lot from Jove I am the povvr / Of this fair VVood, and live in Oak'n bovvr, / To nurſe the Saplings tall, and curl the grove / VVith ringlets quaint, and vvanton vvindings vvove.”

   “She was both beautiful and young to their eyes. Her hair was a rich red in color and fell in flowing ringlets over her shoulders. Her dress was pure white but her eyes were blue, and they looked kindly upon the little girl.”

3. Any of various butterflies with small rings on the wings, in the tribe Satyrini of the family Nymphalidae, such as Aphantopus hyperantus.

verb

1. (transitive)To form into ringlets.

   “"It's very becoming!" said Pollie coaxingly, taking his curly head, which she had been brushing and ringleting for the last half hour, all damp, into her arms.”

2. (transitive)To surround or encircle like a ringlet.

   “I think now that if it had gripped me with those suckers, I would have gone out into the mist too. But it didn't. It grabbed Norm. And the third tentacle ringleted his other ankle. Now he was being pulled away from me.”