Have a ringside seat is an idiom that dates to the 1800s. We will examine the meaning of the idiom have a ringside seat, where it came from, and some examples of its idiomatic usage in sentences.
The idiom have a ringside seat means to have a good view of something, to have an excellent vantage point from which to monitor a situation or observe a performance. The idiom have a ringside seat is derived from the sport of boxing, in which the best spectator seats are the ones that are the closest to the action in the boxing ring, or are located ringside. The expression came into use in a literal sense in the mid-1800s but soon came to be used in a figurative sense. Related phrases are has a ringside seat, had a ringside seat, having a ringside seat.
Examples
Boyle will have a ringside seat to the two-year, $18 million expansion and overhaul the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has planned to straighten out the traffic nightmares known for backups from the Route 115 junction to the Brodheadsville Diner. (The Pocono Record)
Still in the mix but with not enough horse under him aboard Honor A.P., Hall of Fame jockey Smith, who had previously ridden Authentic, would have a ringside seat to watch his former mount dominate and beat Tiz The Law for the win. (Forbes Magazine)
I’m glad that I still have a ringside seat to watch the scientific process in action and that there will be many problems for budding geoscientists to work on for a long time. (The Eureka Times-Standard)
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