rathole

[ rat-hohl ]
See synonyms for rathole on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a hole made by a rat, as into a room, barn, etc.: The first chore in the old building is to plug up the ratholes.

  2. the burrow or shelter of a rat.

  1. any small and uncomfortable room, office, apartment, etc., especially one that is dirty or disordered: He lives in a rathole near the docks.

Idioms about rathole

  1. down the rathole, for a worthless purpose or purposes: seeing your inheritance disappear down the rathole.

Origin of rathole

1
First recorded in 1805–15; rat + hole

Words Nearby rathole

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rathole in a sentence

  • I certainly do, but I think they’ve gone down that same rathole in Colorado and in Montana and other places.

    The Radicalization of Kevin Greeson | by Connor Sheets, AL.com | January 15, 2021 | ProPublica
  • The platform was in a warehouse which, like the rest of the structures in rathole, was a half-buried dome.

    Wind | Charles Louis Fontenay
  • He knew every rathole of the system, with the same intimacy the rats knew them.

    Shock Treatment | Stanley Mullen
  • He had seven hours to go and he was still at least 16 kilometers from rathole.

    Wind | Charles Louis Fontenay
  • There was nothing to do but turn back to rathole and see if some other way could not be found.

    Wind | Charles Louis Fontenay
  • You will have to take a groundcar to rathole and bring the fellow back.

    Wind | Charles Louis Fontenay