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Idioms about rat

    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.

Origin of rat

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

OTHER WORDS FROM rat

rat·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rat

rat
/ (ræt) /

noun
verb rats, ratting or ratted
(intr usually foll by on) informal
  1. to divulge secret information (about); betray the trust (of)
  2. to default (on); abandonhe ratted on the project at the last minute
to hunt and kill rats
See also rats

Derived forms of rat

ratlike, adjective

Word Origin for rat

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with rat

rat

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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