ratchet
Use Ratchet in a sentence
ɪt noun
1.
a toothed bar with which a pawl engages.
2.
(not in technical use) a pawl or the like used with a ratchet or ratchet wheel.
3.
a mechanism consisting of such a bar or wheel with the pawl.
5.
a steady progression up or down: the upward ratchet of oil prices.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
6.
to move by degrees (often followed by up or down ): to ratchet prices up; Interest rates have been ratcheting downward.
00:10
Ratchet
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
Origin:
1650–60; alteration of French rochet; Middle French rocquet a blunt lance-head < Germanic
1650–60; alteration of French rochet; Middle French rocquet a blunt lance-head < Germanic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To ratchet
Collins
World English Dictionary
ratchet (ˈrætʃɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a device in which a toothed rack or wheel is engaged by a pawl to permit motion in one direction only |
| 2. | the toothed rack or wheel forming part of such a device |
| —vb (usually foll by up | |
| 3. | to operate using a ratchet |
| 4. | to increase or decrease, esp irreversibly: electricity prices will ratchet up this year; Hitchcock ratchets up the tension once again |
| [C17: from French rochet, from Old French rocquet blunt head of a lance, of Germanic origin: compare Old High German rocko distaff] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
ratchet
1659, from Fr. rochet "bobbin, spindle," from It. rocchetto "spool, ratchet," dim. of rocca "distaff," possibly from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. rocko "distaff," O.N. rokkr), from P.Gmc. *rukka-, from PIE base *rug- "to spin." Cf. rocket (2). Spelling in Eng. influenced by
Ger. Rätsche "ratchet." The verb is first recorded 1881; transf. sense is from 1977.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
It was a monetary ratchet, in which each cycle ended with much higher debt and much lower interest rates.
While the outer tire was still pressurized, the crane operator began to tap on the tire lock with a ratchet to get the lock loose.
Moreover, there's plenty of time, since evolution uses a ratchet effect of developing a form and then morphing it for other uses.
The colonel is caught in a ratchet and it is tightening.
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