rat

[rat]

noun

1. any of several long-tailed rodents of the family Muridae, of the genus Rattus and related genera, distinguished from the mouse by being larger.

2. any of various mammals similar to or related to the long-tailed rodents of the genus Rattus.

3. Slang.,  a scoundrel.

4. Slang.

   1. a person who abandons or betrays their party or associates, especially in a time of trouble.

   2. an informer.

   3. a scab laborer.

5. Slang.,  a person who frequents a specified place: gym rats.

   a mall rat;

   gym rats.

6. a pad with tapered ends formerly used in women's hairstyles to give the appearance of greater thickness.

interjection

1. Slang.,  rats, (an exclamation of disappointment, disgust, or disbelief.)

verb (used without object)

ratted, ratting 

1. Slang.

   1. to desert one's party or associates, especially in a time of trouble.

   2. to turn informer; squeal.

      He ratted on the gang, and the police arrested them.

   3. to work as a scab.

2. to hunt or catch rats.

verb (used with object)

ratted, ratting 

1. to make (the hair) appear thicker by use of a small pad of material or by teasing.

verb phrase

1. rat out,  to inform on.

   He ratted out his partners in exchange for a lighter sentence.

rat

/ ræt /

noun

1. any of numerous long-tailed murine rodents, esp of the genus Rattus , that are similar to but larger than mice and are now distributed all over the world See also brown rat black rat

2. informal,  a person who deserts his or her friends or associates, esp in time of trouble

3. informal,  a worker who works during a strike; blackleg; scab

4. slang,  an informer; stool pigeon

5. informal,  a despicable person

6. to detect something suspicious

verb

1. informal

   1. to divulge secret information (about); betray the trust (of)

   2. to default (on); abandon

      he ratted on the project at the last minute

2. to hunt and kill rats

Other Word Forms

• ratlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rat¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English rat(t)te, Old English ræt; cognate with Dutch rat, German Ratz, Ratte

Word History and Origins

Origin of rat¹

Old English rætt ; related to Old Saxon ratta , Old High German rato

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. smell a rat, to suspect or surmise treachery; have suspicion.

   After noting several discrepancies in his client's story, the attorney began to smell a rat.

More idioms and phrases containing rat

• like a drowned rat
• smell a rat

Example Sentences

Strikes have led to rubbish piling up, with uncollected waste several feet high in some streets in the first few months, amid complaints of rats, foxes and seagulls tearing open plastic bags.

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Within weeks of arriving, I loathed Madras, where rats stole the padding from my earphones, the humidity left me weak and men tailed my mother in traffic, desperate to buy our imported car.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A new demographic label has swept through China’s social-media feeds in recent months: “rat people.”

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Rats live in drains, sewers and burrows, and emerge mostly at night, so counting them is nearly impossible and estimates on rat population figures vary.

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But Dharmendra wore his stardom lightly, staying away from the rat race and said he never wanted to be number one in the industry.

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