RAT

rat

(noun) any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse

rat

(noun) a pad (usually made of hair) worn as part of a woman’s coiffure

informer, betrayer, rat, squealer, blabber

(noun) one who reveals confidential information in return for money

rotter, dirty dog, rat, skunk, stinker, stinkpot, bum, puke, crumb, lowlife, scum bag, so-and-so, git

(noun) 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’”

scab, strikebreaker, blackleg, rat

(noun) someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike

denounce, tell on, betray, give away, rat, grass, shit, shop, snitch, stag

(verb) give away information about somebody; “He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam”

rat

(verb) catch rats, especially with dogs

rat

(verb) give (hair) the appearance of being fuller by using a rat

fink, scab, rat, blackleg

(verb) take the place of work of someone on strike

rat

(verb) employ scabs or strike breakers in

rat

(verb) desert one’s party or group of friends, for example, for one’s personal advantage

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

rat (plural rats)

(zoology) A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus.

(informal) Any of the numerous members of several rodent families (e.g. voles and mice) that resemble true rats in appearance, usually having a pointy snout, a long, bare tail, and body length greater than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.

(informal) A person who is known for betrayal; a scoundrel; a quisling.

(informal) An informant or snitch.

(informal) A scab: a worker who acts against trade union policies.

(slang) A person who routinely spends time at a particular location.

A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.

A roll of material used to puff out the hair, which is turned over it.

(UK, north-west London, slang, vulgar) Vagina.

(chiefly, informal) Short for muskrat.

Synonyms

• (person known for betrayal): traitor (see for more synonyms)

• (informer): stool pigeon

Verb

rat (third-person singular simple present rats, present participle ratting, simple past and past participle ratted)

(usually with “on” or “out”) To betray a person or party, especially by telling their secret to an authority or an enemy; to turn someone in.

(informal, intransitive) To work as a scab, going against trade union policies.

(of a dog, etc.) To kill rats.

Synonyms

• (to betray someone to an authority): tell on, to finger or put the finger on, bewray

Etymology 2

Noun

rat (plural rats)

(regional) A scratch or a score.

(nautical, regional) A place in the sea with rapid currents and crags where a ship is likely to be torn apart in stormy weather.

Verb

rat (third-person singular simple present rats, present participle ratting, simple past and past participle ratted)

(regional) To scratch or score.

(regional, rare, obsolete) To tear, rip, rend.

Damn, drat, blast; used in oaths.

Usage notes

The verb rat is rarely used in the second sense. In the sense to tear, rip, rend, the form to-rat is more common. Compare German zerreißen (“to rip up, tear, rend”).

Etymology 3

Noun

rat (plural rats)

(military, slang) A ration.

Anagrams

• 'art, ART, ATR, Art, RTA, TAR, Tar, art, art., tar, tra

Noun

RAT (countable and uncountable, plural RATs)

(computing, countable) Acronym of remote-access Trojan.

(philosophy, uncountable) Acronym of relevant alternatives theory.

Anagrams

• 'art, ART, ATR, Art, RTA, TAR, Tar, art, art., tar, tra

Proper noun

Rat

The first of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

Anagrams

• 'art, ART, ATR, Art, RTA, TAR, Tar, art, art., tar, tra

Source: Wiktionary

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Rat, n. Etym: [AS. ræt; akin to D. rat, OHG. rato, ratta, G. ratte, ratze, OLG. ratta, LG. & Dan. rotte, Sw. råtta, F. rat, Ir. & Gael radan, Armor. raz, of unknown origin. Cf. Raccoon.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Definition: 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 (Zoöl.), any Indian rodent of the genus Rhizomys.

– Beaver rat, Coast rat. (Zoöl.) See under Beaver and Coast.

– Blind rat (Zoöl.), the mole rat.

– Cotton rat (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), the potoroo.

– Norway rat (Zoöl.), the common brown rat. See Rat.

– Pouched rat. (Zoöl.) (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. (Zoöl.) 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 (Zoöl.), a large colubrine snake (Ptyas mucosus) very common in India and Ceylon. It enters dwellings, and destroys rats, chickens, etc.

– Spiny rat (Zoöl.), any South America rodent of the genus Echinomys.

– To smell a rat. See under Smell.

– Wood rat (Zoöl.), any American rat of the genus Neotoma, especially N. Floridana, common in the Southern United States. Its feet and belly are white.

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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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