ratting

SayRAT-ing/ˈɹætɪŋ/

5 meanings of ratting

1
verb
Present participle and gerund of rat. Use this -ing form for an action happening now or named as a thing.
He was caught ratting to the boss about his coworkers.
The farmers go ratting with their terriers after the harvest.
Note
2
noununcountable
The job of catching and killing rats, usually with a trained dog.
Like being a hunter, but the targets are the rats around farms.
He earned a living from ratting on the big farms.
Good ratting needs a quick, fearless dog.
3
noununcountable
Giving up the beliefs or values you once stood for.
Like promising to stand by a cause, then turning your back when it matters.
His ratting earned him a reputation as a traitor.
The party saw his sudden ratting as plain cowardice.
Similarbetrayal, defection, apostasy
Oppositeloyalty
4
noununcountable
Working during a strike, which goes against the union's rules.
Like going to work while your teammates refuse, breaking a shared promise.
The miners never forgave his ratting during the long strike.
Ratting through the walkout cost him every friend on the shop floor.
Similarstrikebreaking, blacklegging

Less common meaning

5
nounarchaicuncountable
An old, cruel game where a dog killed as many rats in a pit as it could in a set time.
Crowds packed the tavern cellar to watch the ratting every Saturday night.
Such men usually satisfied their needs for leisure in the patronage of saloons or in such “blood” sports as cockfights or rattings.
2008, Benjamin G. Rader, Baseball: A History of America's GameHere, rattings means a sport where dogs killed penned rats for a score.
Note

ratting is a form of rat

rat, verb: To turn against people, especially by telling the police or someone in charge what they did. Full entry

Forms: ratrats he/she/itratting -ing formratted past tense, past participle
Spelling: rat → ratting: double the t, add -ing

Practice

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