rat1 /rat/ noun- A genus (Rattus) of animals closely allied to mice, but larger
- Extended to various related or superficially similar animals
- A renegade or turncoat (from the rat's alleged desertion of a doomed ship; informal)
- A strike-breaker (informal)
- Someone who works for less than recognized wages (informal)
- A miserable or ill-looking specimen (informal)
- A despicable person (informal)
intransitive verb (rattˈing; rattˈed)- To hunt or catch rats
- To desert or change sides for unworthy motives
- To act as an informer
- (of a worker) to work as a rat
ORIGIN: OE ræt; cf Ger Ratte rats interjection (slang) Expressing irritation, annoyance, etc rattˈed adjective (slang) Drunk rattˈer noun - A killer of rats, esp a dog
- A person who rats
rattˈery noun - Apostasy
- A place where rats are kept or are abundant
rattˈily adverb In a rat-like or ratty manner rattˈiness noun The quality of being rat-like or ratty rattˈing noun - Apostasy
- Rat-hunting
rattˈish adjective - Rat-like
- Rat-infested
rattˈy (rattˈier; rattˈiest) adjective - Rat-like
- Rat-infested
- Wretched
- Unkempt, untidy
- Angry, irritable (informal)
ratˈ-arsed adjective (vulgar sl) Drunk ratˈbag noun (slang) - A term of abuse
- A despicable person
ratˈbite fever noun A disease caused by infection with bacteria conveyed by the bite of a rat ratˈ-catcher noun - A professional killer of rats
- Unconventional hunting garb (slang)
ratˈ-catching noun ratˈfish noun - Another name for rabbitfish (see under rabbit1)
- An edible chimera of the N Pacific (Hydrolagus colliei)
ratˈ-flea noun A flea that infests rats ratˈ-guard noun A metal disc put on a hawser to prevent rats from boarding a ship in port ratˈhole noun ratˈ-hunting noun ratˈ-kangaroo noun The potoroo, a marsupial of various species about the size of a rabbit, related to the kangaroo ratˈpack noun (slang) - A rowdy gang of young people
- A group of photographers aggressively pursuing famous people
ratˈ-pit noun An enclosure where rats are worried by dogs ratˈ-poison noun Any poison for rats ratˈproof adjective rat race noun - A continual round of hectic and futile activity
- The scramble to get on in the world by fair means or foul
rat run noun (informal) A minor road heavily used by traffic trying to avoid major road congestion ratsˈbane noun - Poison for rats, esp white arsenic
- A name for many poisonous plants
rat snake noun Any of several rodent-eating colubrid snakes, esp of the S Asian genus Ptyas, or the N American Elaphe rat'sˈ-tail or ratˈ-tail noun - The tail of a rat
- Anything like a rat's tail
- A thin coherent dangling lock of hair
- An excrescence on a horse's leg
- (ratˈ-tail) the grenadier fish
rat'sˈ-tail, ratˈ-tail or ratˈ-tailed adjective - Having a tail like a rat
- Like a rat's tail
- (of a spoon) ridged along the back of the bowl
rat trap noun - A trap for catching rats
- A toothed bicycle pedal
- An unpleasantly restricting situation
rat on - To inform against (also rat out)
- To betray the interests of
- To desert
smell a rat To have a suspicion that something is afoot |