black rat
an Old World rat, Rattus rattus, now common in the southern U.S., having a black or brown body with grayish or white underparts.
Origin of black rat
1Words Nearby black rat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use black rat in a sentence
The small black rat previously seen was here too, and an unseen mouse entered our tents and ate our food at 20,000 feet.
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-BuryHarvest mice and dormice, although widely distributed, are not numerous, and the original English black rat is now rare.
Devonshire | Francis A. KnightNot so, however, with the black-rat blister-beetle, which is on hand ready for business early in the season.
The $100 Prize Essay on the Cultivation of the Potato; and How to Cook the Potato | D. H. Compton and Pierre BlotIt seems to have driven out the black rat before it wherever it made its appearance.
Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon | Robert A. SterndaleShe stared at me out of a pair of small black rat eyes, then, setting down her bundle, asked me what I wanted.
The Purple Land | W. H. Hudson
British Dictionary definitions for black rat
a common rat, Rattus rattus : a household pest that has spread from its native Asia to all countries
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
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