ratted

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of rat.

   The witness ratted on the gang leader during the trial.

   He never forgave the friend who ratted him out to the police.

   Note

   One spelling covers every verb sense of rat, so context decides which past is meant. With on or out it means informing (he ratted on his partner, she ratted him out). With no object it can mean deserting a party or cause, and in American use it can mean backcombing hair (she ratted her hair). It has nothing to do with the British slang for drunk, which is a separate word.

2. 2
   adjectiveslangBritish

   Intoxicated or drunk, typically after heavy drinking.

   Half the wedding party was ratted before the speeches even started.

   She admitted she'd been a bit ratted by the end of the night out.

   Similardrunk, wasted, plastered, hammered, smashed

   Oppositesober

   Note

   A clipped form of rat-arsed, this is British slang, and it carries some of the coarseness of its source. It belongs to pub talk and nights out, not to a report or an email to a manager. It usually follows a linking verb: someone was ratted or got ratted. Unlike the past tense of rat, it can be graded, so a person can be more ratted than a friend.

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