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9 dictionary results for: Rat
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
rat 
[rat] Pronunciation Key noun, interjection, verb, rat·ted, rat·ting.
—Related forms
[rat] Pronunciation Key noun, interjection, verb, rat·ted, rat·ting. –noun
–interjection
–verb (used without object)
–verb (used with object)
—Idiom
| 1. | any of several long-tailed rodents of the family Muridae, of the genus Rattus and related genera, distinguished from the mouse by being larger. |
| 2. | any of various similar or related animals. |
| 3. | Slang. a scoundrel. |
| 4. | Slang.
|
| 5. | Slang. a person who frequents a specified place: a mall rat; gym rats. |
| 6. | a pad with tapered ends formerly used in women's hair styles to give the appearance of greater thickness. |
| 7. | rats, Slang. (an exclamation of disappointment, disgust, or disbelief.) |
| 8. | Slang.
|
| 9. | to hunt or catch rats. |
| 10. | to dress (the hair) with or as if with a rat. |
| 11. | smell a rat, to suspect or surmise treachery; have suspicion: After noting several discrepancies in his client's story, the attorney began to smell a rat. |
[Origin: bef. 1000; ME rat(t)e, OE ræt; c. D rat, G Ratz, Ratte]
] —Related forms
ratlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| rat
(rāt) Pronunciation Key
n.
v. rat·ted, rat·ting, rats v. intr.
v. tr. To puff out (the hair) with or as if with a pad of material. [Middle English, from Old English ræt; see rēd- in Indo-European roots.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rat
rat
O.E. ræt. Similar words in Celtic (Gael. radan), Romance (It. ratto, Sp. rata, Fr. rat) and Gmc. (M.L.G. rotte, Ger. ratte) languages, but connection is uncertain and origin unknown. Perhaps from V.L. *rattus, but Weekley thinks this is of Gmc. origin, "the animal having come from the East with the race-migrations" and the word passing thence to the Romanic languages. American Heritage and Tucker connect O.E. ræt to L. rodere and thus PIE *red- "to scrape, scratch, gnaw," source of rodent (q.v.). Klein says there is no connection and suggests a possible cognate in Gk. rhine "file, rasp." Weekley connects them with a question mark and Barnhart writes, "the relationship to each other of the Germanic, Romance, and Celtic words for rat is uncertain." OED says "probable" the rat word spread from Germanic to Romance, but takes no position on ultimate origin. M.E. common form was ratton, from augmented O.Fr. form raton. Sense of "one who abandons his associates" (1629) is from belief that rats leave a ship about to sink or a house about to fall and led to meaning "traitor, informant" (1902; verb 1910). Interjection rats is Amer.Eng., 1886. To smell a rat is c.1550. Rat-race "competitive struggle" is 1939. Ratsbane (1523) is arsenic. Rat fink is teen slang from 1963. Rathole in fig. sense of "nasty, messy place" first attested 1812. _____-rat, "person who frequents _____" (in earliest ref. dock-rat) is from 1864. Rat-pack "juvenile gang" is from 1951.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| rat | |
noun | |
| 1. | any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse |
| 2. | someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike [syn: scab] |
| 3. | a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible; "only a rotter would do that"; "kill the rat"; "throw the bum out"; "you cowardly little pukes!"; "the British call a contemptible person a 'git'" |
| 4. | one who reveals confidential information in return for money [syn: informer] |
| 5. | a pad (usually made of hair) worn as part of a woman's coiffure |
verb | |
| 1. | desert one's party or group of friends, for example, for one's personal advantage |
| 2. | employ scabs or strike breakers in |
| 3. | take the place of work of someone on strike [syn: fink] |
| 4. | give (hair) the appearance of being fuller by using a rat |
| 5. | catch rats, especially with dogs |
| 6. | give away information about somebody; "He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This
rat
In addition to the idioms beginning with rat, also see like a drowned rat; smell a rat.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rat (rāt)
n.
Any of various long-tailed rodents of the genus Rattus and related genera, including certain strains used in scientific research and certain species that are vectors for various diseases.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Rat
Rat\, n. [AS. r[ae]t; akin to D. rat, OHG. rato, ratta, G. ratte, ratze, OLG. ratta, LG. & Dan. rotte, Sw. r[*a]tta, F. rat, Ir. & Gael radan, Armor. raz, of unknown origin. Cf. Raccoon.]1. (Zo["o]l.) One of the several species of small rodents of the genus Mus and allied genera, larger than mice, that infest houses, stores, and ships, especially the Norway, or brown, rat (M. Alexandrinus). These were introduced into Anerica from the Old World. 2. A round and tapering mass of hair, or similar material, used by women to support the puffs and rolls of their natural hair. [Local, U.S.] 3. One who deserts his party or associates; hence, in the trades, one who works for lower wages than those prescribed by a trades union. [Cant] Note: "It so chanced that, not long after the accession of the house of Hanover, some of the brown, that is the German or Norway, rats, were first brought over to this country (in some timber as is said); and being much stronger than the black, or, till then, the common, rats, they in many places quite extirpated the latter. The word (both the noun and the verb to rat) was first, as we have seen, leveled at the converts to the government of George the First, but has by degrees obtained a wide meaning, and come to be applied to any sudden and mercenary change in politics." --Lord Mahon. Bamboo rat (Zo["o]l.), any Indian rodent of the genus Rhizomys. Beaver rat, Coast rat. (Zo["o]l.) See under Beaver and Coast. Blind rat (Zo["o]l.), the mole rat. Cotton rat (Zo["o]l.), a long-haired rat (Sigmodon hispidus), native of the Southern United States and Mexico. It makes its nest of cotton and is often injurious to the crop. Ground rat. See Ground Pig, under Ground. Hedgehog rat. See under Hedgehog. Kangaroo rat (Zo["o]l.), the potoroo. Norway rat (Zo["o]l.), the common brown rat. See Rat. Pouched rat. (Zo["o]l.) (a) See Pocket Gopher, under Pocket. (b) Any African rodent of the genus Cricetomys. Rat Indians (Ethnol.), a tribe of Indians dwelling near Fort Ukon, Alaska. They belong to Athabascan stock. Rat mole. (Zo["o]l.) See Mole rat, under Mole. Rat pit, an inclosed space into which rats are put to be killed by a dog for sport. Rat snake (Zo["o]l.), a large colubrine snake (Ptyas mucosus) very common in India and Ceylon. It enters dwellings, and destroys rats, chickens, etc. Spiny rat (Zo["o]l.), any South America rodent of the genus Echinomys. To smell a rat. See under Smell. Wood rat (Zo["o]l.), any American rat of the genus Neotoma, especially N. Floridana, common in the Southern United States. Its feet and belly are white.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Rat
Rat\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ratted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ratting.]1. In English politics, to desert one's party from interested motives; to forsake one's associates for one's own advantage; in the trades, to work for less wages, or on other conditions, than those established by a trades union. Coleridge . . . incurred the reproach of having ratted, solely by his inability to follow the friends of his early days. --De Quincey. 2. To catch or kill rats.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
| RAT right anterior thigh |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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