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definitions

rat terrier

noun
  1. a terrier of any of several breeds developed especially for catching rats, as the Manchester terrier.

Origin of rat terrier

First recorded in 1850–55
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rat terrier

Historical Examples of rat terrier

  • Only the point of it stuck up; the rest was clipped as clean as a rat-terrier's.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

  • Cupid is a rat-terrier, but he likes to hunt rabbits better than rats.

  • A rat-terrier believes that on his home grounds he can whip an elephant.

    Penrod

    Booth Tarkington

  • She would know how to depress a rat-terrier with it and make a lap-dog look sorry he came.

  • He lacked imagination, and he had the manner of a rat-terrier toward people not of his own kind; but he was one good executive.

    The U-boat hunters

    James B. Connolly