# rat

Pronunciation: say "RAT" /ɹæt/

## Noun

1. A rodent like a large mouse, with a pointed snout and a long, nearly hairless tail, especially of the genus Rattus; also similar rodents.
   - Simple: An animal like a big mouse, with a long thin tail.
   - _A rat had built its nest behind the old refrigerator._
   - _Brown rats are among the most widespread mammals on Earth._
3. A person who habitually spends much of their time at a particular place. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who spends a lot of their time at one certain place.
   - _He was a mall rat through and through, drifting between stores until closing._
   - _By six in the morning the usual gym rats were already on the benches, chatting between sets._
4. A contemptible or disloyal person, especially one who betrays others by informing on them. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A bad person who cannot be trusted, especially one who tells the police or others about friends.
   - _They treated her like a rat once they learned she had leaked their plans._
   - _He turned out to be a rat, selling out his closest allies for money._
5. A scab; a worker who acts against trade union policies, especially one who keeps working during a strike. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A worker who goes against their trade union, often by working during a strike.
   - _Strikers shouted at the rats heading into the factory._
   - _Management hired a rat to keep the line running while the union held out._
6. Short form of muskrat: a large semiaquatic North American rodent, often trapped for its fur. *(colloquial)* — Ellipsis of muskrat.
   - Simple: Short form of muskrat: a furry animal that lives in marshes and ponds and swims well.
   - _Trappers know a rat will build its lodge where cattails grow thick along the marsh edge._
   - _Out on the frozen marsh, dome-shaped rat houses built from cattails poked up through the snow._
11. A pad or roll of material, or a wad of the wearer's own shed hair, over which the hair is turned to puff it out.
   - Simple: A small pad, often made of saved hair, that hair is wrapped around to make it look fuller.
   - _A rat under the front sweep gave her pompadour its dramatic height._
   - _She fixed a rat along the hairline and combed the smooth strands over it._
12. Vulgar slang for the vulva or vagina. *(slang, UK)*
   - Simple: A rude slang word for a woman's private parts.
   - _The long bike ride left her rat sore and chafed by the time she got home._
   - _Crude as ever, he joked that her tiny bikini bottoms barely covered her rat._
13. A ration, especially a portion of food issued to military personnel. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A set amount of food given out, especially to soldiers.
   - _Before the exercise, the quartermaster issued everyone forty-eight hours of rats, and most of us had eaten the chocolate bars by nightfall._
   - _The resupply truck was two days late, so the platoon shared out whatever rats were left and hoped the weather would hold._

## Verb

2. To betray someone or something, especially by informing on people to the police or other authorities, or by deserting a party or cause.
   - Simple: To turn against people, especially by telling the police or someone in charge what they did.
   - _She refused to rat on the others, even under pressure._
   - _He feared his cellmate would rat to the guards at the first chance._
8. To backcomb hair, combing it toward the scalp to add volume. *(US)*
   - Simple: To comb hair backward toward the scalp to make it look bigger and fuller.
   - _Backstage, dancers rat their hair into towering shapes for the show._
   - _He ratted her hair at the roots to add volume before the photo shoot._
9. To hunt down and kill rats, especially as a means of pest control.
   - Simple: To hunt and kill rats, often to keep them out of a building.
   - _Working terriers rat through hedgerows and barns to keep down infestations._
   - _The dogs ratted across the whole farm before the harvest came in._
10. To work in defiance of trade union policies, especially by working during a strike. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To go against your trade union's rules, especially by working during a strike.

## Verb

7. Used in mild oaths to express anger, frustration, or annoyance. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Used to show anger or annoyance, like a mild curse word.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A scratch or a score left on a surface.
- (verb) To scratch or score a surface.
- (noun) A stretch of sea with rapid currents and rocky crags where a ship is likely to be torn apart in stormy weather.
- (verb) To tear, rip, or pull apart.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6, 8–12** — From Middle English ratte, from Old English rætt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz (compare West Frisian rôt and Dutch rat). Its ultimate origin is uncertain, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to scrape, scratch, gnaw', though rats may have been unknown in Northern Europe when the Germanic word arose, so the early word may have referred to a different animal.
**Meaning 7** — The word comes from Middle English ratten, whose earlier origin is unknown. It may be related to write. Forms to compare are Middle High German ratzen, meaning to scratch, rasp, or tear, and Middle Low German retten, meaning to tear up.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/rat (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).