Rat Definition
răt
rats, ratted, ratting
noun
rats
Any of numerous long-tailed rodents of various families (esp. Muridae and Cricetidae) resembling, but larger than, the mouse: rats are very destructive pests and carriers of highly contagious diseases, as bubonic plague and typhus.
Webster's New World
Any of various animals similar to one of these long-tailed rodents.
American Heritage Medicine
A despicable person, especially one who betrays or informs upon associates.
American Heritage
A sneaky, contemptible person.
Webster's New World
A small pad formerly used in certain styles of women's coiffures to make the hair look thicker.
Webster's New World
verb
rats, ratted, ratting
To hunt for rats, esp. with dogs.
Webster's New World
To desert or betray a cause, movement, etc. as rats are reputed to desert a sinking ship.
Webster's New World
To inform on or betray (someone)
His comrades will not rat him out.
Webster's New World
To tease (the hair)
Webster's New World
To act as a stool pigeon; inform (on)
Webster's New World
idiom
smell a rat
- to suspect a trick, plot, etc.
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Rat
Origin of Rat
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From Middle English rat, rotte, from Old English ræt, from Proto-Germanic *rattaz, *ratō (compare West Frisian rôt, Dutch rat, dialectal German Ratz), from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- (“to scrape") (compare Welsh rhathu (“to grate, rasp"), Latin rōdō (“to gnaw"), rōstrum (“beak, prow"), Middle Persian randÄ«tan (“to scrape, smooth"), Sanskrit rádati (“he gnaws, cuts")).
From Wiktionary
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Middle English from Old English ræt rēd- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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