ratlingn.
/ˈratlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrætlɪŋ/ A young rat.
ΚΠ
1861 All Year Round 21 Sept. 613/1 Not a she rat or a ratling must be spared.
1882 ‘Basil’ Love the Debt xlii The cellar soon swarmed with rats and ratlings.
1953 D. P. Cuthbertson & A. T. Phillipson in G. H. Bourne & G. W. Kidder Biochem. & Physiol. Nutrition II. xiv. 130 Most of the difficulties encountered in rearing germ-free rats are in feeding the newly delivered full-term ratlings by hand.
1978 H. R. F. Keating Long Walk to Wimbledon ii. 24 A whole nestful of ratlings squirmed and squeaked.
1994 Guardian 1 Oct. (Weekend Suppl.) 77/4 Rats can breed aged three to four months and may give birth to 30 or more ratlings in a year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1861- persuasiveness
- persuasivenesses
- persuasives
- persuasory
- persue
- persulfate
- persulfide
- persulfuric
- persulphate
- persulphates
- persulphide
- persulpho
- persulpho-
- persulphocyanate
- persulphocyanic
- persulphocyanic acid
- persulphocyanuret
- persulphuret
- persulphuric
- persulphuric acid
- persulphuric oxide
- persulphurous
- persultation
- perswage
- persway