Advertisement
Advertisement
ratchet
1[ rach-it ]
noun
- a toothed bar with which a pawl engages.
- (not in technical use) a pawl or the like used with a ratchet or ratchet wheel.
- a mechanism consisting of such a bar or wheel with the pawl.
- a steady progression up or down:
the upward ratchet of oil prices.
verb (used with or without object)
- to move by degrees (often followed by up or down ):
to ratchet prices up;
Interest rates have been ratcheting downward.
ratchet
2[ rach-it ]
adjective
- flashy, unrefined, etc.; low-class:
ratchet girls wearing too much makeup.
- exhibiting or affirming low-class traits in a way that is considered authentic:
Better to stay a ratchet bitch than become a bougie poser like her.
- extremely good; awesome.
ratchet
/ ˈrætʃɪt /
noun
- a device in which a toothed rack or wheel is engaged by a pawl to permit motion in one direction only
- the toothed rack or wheel forming part of such a device
verb
- to operate using a ratchet
- usually foll byup or down to increase or decrease, esp irreversibly
electricity prices will ratchet up this year
Hitchcock ratchets up the tension once again
Discover More
Other Words From
- ratch·et·ness noun
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Origin of ratchet1
Origin of ratchet2
Discover More
Word History and Origins
Origin of ratchet1
Discover More
Example Sentences
Lawmaking by legislatures is also a one-way ratchet—Legislators get credit for passing laws, not pruning them.
Every message, action and gesture seems calculated to ratchet up the anxiety of those who are listening.
Sean Hannity versus Michael Savage—these two conservative radio hosts have recently ratchet up their rivalry.
Dancers are suspended in midair like the cast of a ratchet Cirque du Soleil performance.
“Pour It Up” exists in a magical, ratchet room of requirement.
When the tympanum vibrates under the influence of the voice, the stylus acts as a pawl and turns a ratchet-wheel.
Drilling machines, both hand and power, hand and ratchet braces and breast-drill stocks.
SB is the primitive radius of the club tooth wheel, but both primitive and real radius of the ratchet wheel.
On the pendulum he had a little ratchet wheel, R, having thirty teeth.
On the side of the clock case was a contact maker, which closed the circuit by the pin on the ratchet wheel, R, once every minute.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse