ringside seat

ringside seat

1. Literally, a front-row seat next to a boxing ring (thought to be the best place to watch the match). Wow, you got ringside seats to that fight? They must have cost thousands!
2. By extension, a place in close proximity to a certain situation or event. I unexpectedly had a ringside seat when a fight broke out at the bar. Living near this forest my whole life, I've had a ringside seat to witness the change in the population of birds.
See also: ringside, seat
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ringside seat

A place providing a close view of something, as in We lived right next door, so we had ringside seats for their quarrels. This term presumably came from boxing, where it denotes the seats just outside the boxing ring. [c. 1860]
See also: ringside, seat
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a ringside seat

or

a ringside view

If you have a ringside seat or a ringside view, you have an excellent and clear view of what is happening somewhere. From this hotel, you get a ringside seat at the volcano's performance. The first US presidential election for which I had a ringside seat was that which brought John F. Kennedy to office over 30 years ago. Note: In boxing, the ringside seats are the seats that are closest to the ring and have the best view.
See also: ringside, seat
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • a ringside seat
  • have a ringside seat
  • have a ringside seat/view
  • ringside
  • ringside view
  • have a ringside view
  • be wide of the mark
  • be/fall wide of the mark
  • be the dead spit of (someone)
  • be the spit of
References in periodicals archive
My desire to have a ringside seat to history was realized.
Assignment Baghdad
A Ringside Seat contains plenty of illustrations of Brunson with Baroness Thatcher and Brunson with Prince Charles but there are also pictures of Brunson in a silly hat and Brunson taking a tumble while trailing Jonathan Aitken.
Aspects: And it's goodbye from him; Chief Feature Writer Jason Beattie talks to Michael Brunson, ITN's retiring political editor, on a life in front of the camera
PS81k Asking price on ticketnetwork.com for a ringside seat at the McGregor fight
Tickets still available if you've got big bucks
'Dolphins one of the finest sights in the animal world and the trippers on the boat were given a ringside seat.
Large school of dolphins gives tourists a treat
The four 40-minute programmes will be presented from one of the venues of London Fashion Week, giving viewers a ringside seat for all the fashion action.
Rover models a novel sponsorship
Rap superstar P Diddy has a ringside seat at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for Sunday morning's "fight of the century" - and the pair have history.
McGregor vs Diddy Rapper at ringside to watch; Rapper at ringside to watch fighter who can't stand him
Wrap up warm and bring your binoculars for your ringside seat.
See the mad March hares
But now Doncaster lightweight Bull will swap his own ringside seat for the ring itself after accepting a call to end his short-lived retirement and step in to provide Khan's 12th professional test.
Boxing: Bull: It's like I've won the lottery
I'd been given a ringside seat to observe man's inhumanity to man.
Theatre: LESSON ON LIFE IN SAVAGE TALE; LORD OF THE FLIES, The Old Rep, Birmingham
Further down the Strip just $20 will get you a ringside seat at the topless Crazy Girls show at the Riviera.
How they gamble in Las Vegas
MORE than 2,000 tickets were still available for the big fight yesterday but ticketnetwork.com was asking PS81,000 for a ringside seat, and a VIP package being sold by US secondary selling sites was PS122,000.
PS122k for VIP package as pair face off before clash
Yep, if you had a spare PS10,000, you could have been one of the lucky four who forked out in return for a ringside seat.
DEEP breath. In. Out. In. [...]
Matthew fights for a world title while Ricky will be relegated to a ringside seat.
MAD MATT; BOXING WORLD TITLE
At least they are there by choice, queuing up outside as if they are trying to reserve a ringside seat for some fantastic tournament.
Give the shopping a break!
Tennis star Murray watched from a ringside seat as Khan dispatched Walsall journeyman Steve Gethin 49 seconds into the third round of a one-sided contest at the Braehead Arena.
Sport shorts