ratcheting
present participle of ratchet
ratcheting (countable and uncountable, plural ratchetings)
The act by which something is ratcheted.
A conjurers' trick of bending an object back and forth to induce metal fatigue, so that it can be broken later by rubbing it.
• chattering
Source: Wiktionary
Ratch"et, n. Etym: [Properly a diminutive from the same word as rack: cf. F. rochet. See 2d Ratch, Rack the instrument.]
1. A pawl, click, or detent, for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.
2. A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch, and pawl. See Ratchet wheel, below, and 2d Ratch. Ratchet brace (Mech.), a boring brace, having a ratchet wheel and pawl for rotating the tool by back and forth movements of the brace handle.
– Ratchet drill, a portable machine for working a drill by hand, consisting of a hand lever carrying at one end a drill holder which is revolved by means of a ratchet wheel and pawl, by swinging the lever back and forth.
– Ratchet wheel (Mach.), a circular wheel having teeth, usually angular, with which a reciprocating pawl engages to turn the wheel forward, or a stationary pawl to hold it from turning backward.
Note: In the cut, the moving pawl c slides over the teeth in one direction, but in returning, draws the wheel with it, while the pawl d prevents it from turning in the contrary direction.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
21 June 2025
(noun) the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped); “asphyxiation is sometimes used as a form of torture”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
