a short round bar or stick used as a cross-bar or rail in a chair, and particularly as one of the steps or rounds of a ladder. In Scottish the word retains the original meaning of a staff or stick, especially a short thick cudgel. The O.E. hrung is used only of a bar or rail in a wagon; the word also occurs in O.Du. rouge, beam of a plough, Ger. Runge, pin, bolt.