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Rat

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rat¹

  • /ɹæt/ Australia, US, UK
  • /ɹat/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾat/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

From Middle English raat, rat, ratt, ratte, rotte, from Old English ræt, rætt, from Proto-West Germanic *ratt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, *rattō (“rat”), of uncertain origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to gnaw, scrape, scratch”). However, the rat may have been unknown in Northern Europe in antiquity, and the Proto-Germanic word may have referred to a different animal; see *rattaz for more. Attestation of this family of words begins in the 12th century.

Cognates

Cognate with North Frisian root (“rat”), Saterland Frisian Rotte (“rat”), West Frisian rôt (“rat”), Dutch rat, rot (“rat”), German Ratte (“rat”), Luxembourgish Rat (“rat”), Vilamovian rot, rott (“rat”), Yiddish ראַץ (rats, “rat”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rotte (“rat”), Faroese and Icelandic rotta (“rat”), Norwegian Nynorsk rotta, rotte, røtte (“rat”), Swedish råtta (“rat”), Latin rattus, ratus (“rat”) (whence Asturian ratu (“mouse”), Catalan rata (“rat”), French rat (“rat”), Italian ratto (“rat”), Portuguese rato (“rat”), Spanish rata (“rat”), rato (“male rat”)); also Latin rōdō (“to bite, gnaw, nibble; to backbite, disparage, slander”), Sanskrit रदति (radati, “to scrape, scratch; to cut path, pave; to lead river into a channel; to bestow, convey”).

Some of the Germanic cognates show considerable consonant variation, e.g. Middle Low German ratte, radde; Middle High German rate, ratte, ratze. The irregularity may be symptomatic of a late dispersal of the word, although Kroonen accounts for it with a Proto-Germanic stem *raþō nom., *ruttaz gen., showing both ablaut and a Kluge's law alternation, with the variation arising from varying remodellings in the descendants. Kroonen states that this requires a Proto-Indo-European etymon in final *t and is incompatible with the usual derivation from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to scrape, scratch, gnaw”).

noun rats

  1. Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snout, a long, hairless tail, and a body length greater than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.
  2. A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus. Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.
  3. informal A person who is known for betrayal. Near-synonyms: rouge, scoundrel, snake; see also Thesaurus:villain
  4. informal An informant or snitch.
  5. informal A scab: a worker who acts against trade union policies.
  6. slang A person who routinely spends time at a particular location. Our teenager has become a mall rat.
  7. A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.
  8. A roll of material used to puff out the hair, which is turned over it.
  9. UK, slang, vulgar Vagina, vulva. Get your rat out.
  10. abbreviation, ellipsis, informal Ellipsis of muskrat.muskrat The price of rats began to rise and soon after the marsh froze over, spearing rats began, which was done with a one tine three-eighths inch steel rod, with a wooden handle […]

verb rats · ratting · ratted

  1. usually To hunt or kill rats.
  2. intransitive To betray a political party, cause or principle; to betray someone, to desert a person or thing.
  3. informal, intransitive To work as a scab, going against trade union policies.
  4. US To backcomb (hair). In 1962, the higher a girl's hair was ratted the more available she was, it was simply understood.
  5. intransitive To inform on someone; to betray someone to the police or authorities. He ratted on his coworker.

Similar: tell on, to finger, put the finger on, bewray

rat²

  • /ɹæt/ Australia, US, UK
  • /ɹat/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾat/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

From Middle English ratten, further etymology unknown. Compare Middle Low German retten (“to tear, tear up”), Middle High German ratzen (“to scratch; rasp; tear”). Could be related to write. See also rit.

noun rats

  1. regional A scratch or a score.
  2. regional A place in the sea with rapid currents and crags where a ship is likely to be torn apart in stormy weather.

verb rats · ratting · ratted

  1. regional To scratch or score. He ratted a vertical line on his face with a pocket knife.
  2. obsolete, rare, regional To tear, rip, rend. Ratted to shreds.
  3. Damn, drat, blast; used in oaths. “But, rat me, sir,” cried Foster in bewilderment, “tis too generous—'pon honour it is. I can't consent to it. No, rat me, I can't.”

rat³

  • /ɹæt/ Australia, US, UK
  • /ɹat/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾat/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

noun rats

  1. slang A ration. With regards to the testing of his product, the initial blood analysis had come back confirming huge, distinctive nutritional superiority for Stewart's military ration pack. Given that the policy of the British Army is to be fully ready for war at the drop of a hat, he was sitting on the potential o

rat⁴

  • /ɹæt/ Australia, US, UK
  • /ɹat/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ɾat/ Scotland, Wales
  • /ɹɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

From remote-access Trojan.

verb rats · ratting · ratted

  1. transitive To hack someone with a remote-access Trojan.

Rat⁵

proper noun

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

RAT⁶

noun RATs

  1. abbreviation, countable, initialism Initialism of rapid antigen test.rapid antigen test
  2. abbreviation, countable, initialism Initialism of Rapid Area Transit.Rapid Area Transit
  3. abbreviation, countable, initialism Initialism of ram air turbine.ram air turbine
  4. abbreviation, countable, initialism Initialism of remote-access Trojan.remote-access Trojan
  5. abbreviation, initialism, uncountable Initialism of relevant alternatives theory.relevant alternatives theory

verb RATs · RATing · RATed · RAT'd

  1. transitive To hack someone with a remote-access Trojan.

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