ratchet

1
[ rach-it ]
See synonyms for ratchet on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. a mechanism consisting of such a bar or wheel with the pawl.

  2. a steady progression up or down: the upward ratchet of oil prices.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to move by degrees (often followed by up or down): to ratchet prices up; Interest rates have been ratcheting downward.

Origin of ratchet

1
First recorded in 1650–60; alteration of French rochet; Middle French rocquet “a blunt lance-head,” from Germanic; compare Old High German rocko, roccho “distaff”

Other definitions for ratchet (2 of 2)

ratchet2
[ rach-it ]

adjectiveSlang.
  1. flashy, unrefined, etc.; low-class: ratchet girls wearing too much makeup.

  2. 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.

  1. extremely good; awesome.

Origin of ratchet

2
First recorded in 1990–95; from a dance and genre of hip-hop music originating in Shreveport, Louisiana
  • Also ratched [racht] /rætʃt/ .

Other words from ratchet

  • ratch·et·ness, noun

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

How to use ratchet in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ratchet

ratchet

/ (ˈrætʃɪt) /


noun
  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

verb
  1. to operate using a ratchet

  2. (usually foll by up or down) to increase or decrease, esp irreversibly: electricity prices will ratchet up this year; Hitchcock ratchets up the tension once again

Origin of ratchet

1
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 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012