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

verb (used without object)

, rat·ted, rat·ting.

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)

, rat·ted, rat·ting.

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

verb phrase

1. Slang. 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. smell a rat
   to detect something suspicious

verb

1. informal.
   intrusually foll byon
   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

Derived Forms

• ˈratˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• rat·like 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

It showed Percy and Fred's cameos, overlaid on the pyramids of Cairo, and hinted at an unbelievable story Percy told of a chance meeting when Percy had been a Desert Rat - a group of British soldiers who helped to defeat the Germans in North Africa during the war.

From BBC

No one likes to admit it, but there’s also a serious rat problem in them there hills.

From Los Angeles Times

The following month, Barnett allegedly retaliated against Guimaraes by tearing down pictures of his children in his locker, calling him a “rat” around the station and questioning the validity of Guimaraes’ medical disability.

From Los Angeles Times

Guimaraes was once more relocated in September to a fire station in Chatsworth, where he found a toy rat as he packed his belongings, according to the lawsuit.

From Los Angeles Times

“The longer the emergency program went on, the longer folks had to complain about unresolved rat, noise, trash issues—the litany of things you hear,” noted Jackson Chabot, director of advocacy at the planning nonprofit Open Plans.

From Slate