desert rat


noun
  1. any of various small rodents, as the kangaroo rat, inhabiting arid regions.

  2. Chiefly Western U.S. one who lives in the desert, especially in order to prospect for gold or other valuable minerals.

  1. Informal. a soldier fighting in the N African desert in World War II, especially a British soldier.

Origin of desert rat

1
An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use desert rat in a sentence

  • Two were even willing to pose for a picture by their kills: one had a five-foot rattlesnake; the other a desert rat.

    Watched by Wild Animals | Enos A. Mills
  • He was simply another "desert rat" obsessed with the idea that gold was to be found in those northern hills.

    Overland Red | Henry Herbert Knibbs
  • That meant he had been found and rescued by some Martian desert rat who had probably witnessed his fall.

    The Martian Cabal | Roman Frederick Starzl
  • "Sandstorm" warned the desert rat, and spoke quickly to the mozo in Spanish.

    The Long Chance | Peter B. Kyne
  • He even copied the exact wording on the desert rat's notices.

    The Long Chance | Peter B. Kyne

British Dictionary definitions for desert rat

desert rat

noun
  1. a jerboa, Jaculus orientalis, inhabiting the deserts of N Africa

  2. British informal a soldier who served in North Africa with the British 7th Armoured Division in 1941–42

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012