ratchet
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ratchet¹
- /ˈɹæt͡ʃɪt/
Rhymes with -ætʃɪt
Where it comes from
From French rochet (“bobbin, spindle, ratchet”), from Italian rocchetto (“spool, ratchet”).
noun ratchets · rachet
- A pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.
- A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch and pawl.
- A ratchet wrench.
- A procedure or regulation that goes in one direction, usually up. The threat of terrorism to the British lies in the overreaction to it of British governments. Each one in turn clicks up the ratchet of surveillance, intrusion and security. Each one diminishes liberty.
- A mechanism for generating a new unique key for each message by moving forward in a sequence.
- A noisemaker or musical instrument where sound is generated by a board striking against a rotating gear. Ahead of them a group of mandibulous sales men had set up their combustion cups and incendiary ratchets to demonstrate their wares to whatever officers might come by.
- Ellipsis of full ratchet
verb ratchets · ratcheting · ratcheted · rachet
- To increment or decrement; especially, to offer controlled motion that can increment while resisting decrement, or vice versa. This holddown ratchets, which allows the person loading the trailer to cinch down the straps.
- To cause (something) to become incremented or decremented. Get this holddown into position, but don't start ratcheting it yet. When I say go, you start ratcheting it, OK?
ratchet²
- /ˈɹæt͡ʃɪt/
Rhymes with -ætʃɪt
Where it comes from
Possibly a variant (representing a Southern or specifically Louisianan pronunciation) of wretched. Compare rasslin' for wrestling.
adjective more ratchet · most ratchet
- Ghetto; unseemly, indecorous. The one thing that always accompanies Miley's ratchet look (along with the gang signs) is the tongue, which is sort of like saying this persona that she has adopted is some sort of gonzo idiot who can't keep its tongue in her head.
noun ratchets
- A person, usually a female, who acts or behaves in a ghetto, unseemly, or indecorous way or manner. I don't do this for the motherfucking rapping / I do this for the ratchets
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ratch, rachet, rachet up, ratchet down, pawl, knife, creek, cove, crack, wrench, cliquet, ratchet wheel, click, pallet, ratchet lever, rack
Translations
Every language
noun pawl, click or detent for a ratchet wheel
| Français | rochet |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Sperrklinke |
| Italiano | nottolino, cricchetto |
| עברית | רַעֲשָׁן ra'ashán |
noun mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel and pawl
| Español | carraca |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Gesperre |
| Italiano | ruota a cricchetto, arpionismo |
| Русский | храпови́к xrapovík |
verb intransitive
| Italiano | funzionare grazie ad un arpionismo |
|---|
verb transitive
| Italiano | munire di arpionismo |
|---|
Talk about this word "ratchet." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ratchet. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ratchet. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ratchet "ratchet." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ratchet.Cite this
@misc{ratchet_2026,
title = {ratchet},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ratchet},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
