rat1 (rat)

[Formerly also ratt; 2. Any rodent of the family Muridæ; a murine; in the plural, the Muridæ. In this sense, rat includes mouse. American rats or mice are a particular section of the subfamily Murinæ, called Sigmodontes, confined to America, where no other Murinæ are indigenous. Field-rats, water-rats, meadow-mice, or voles are Muridæ of the subfamily Arvicoding. See cuts under Arvicola, Muridæ, muskrat, Neotoma, Nesokia, and Nesomys. 3. Any rodent of the suborder Myomorpha. Different animals of several families, as Dipodidæ, Zapo didæ, Saccomyidæ, Geomyidæ, Spalacidæ, are often known as rats of some kind distinguished by qualifying words or compound names. See cut under mole -rat. 4. Some other rodent, or some insectivore, marsupial, or other animal like or likened to a rat. Thus, among hystricomorphic rodents, many species of Octodontidæ are called rats: as, the spiny rats of the subfamily Ech i no my inæ. Some large aquatic shrews are known as muskrats. (See Myogale.) Some rat-like marsupials are known as kangaroo - rats. (See bettong, and cuts under kangaroo - rat and Echimys.) rat 5. A person who is considered to act in some respect in a manner characteristic of rats: so called in opprobrium. Specifically - ( a ) A man who deserts a party or an a ociation of any kind for one opposed to it in order to gain some personal advantage or benefit; a self-seeking turncoat; a renegade. [Colloq.] He [Went worth] was the first of the Rats , the first of those statesmen whose patriotism had been only the coquetry of a political prostitution, and whose profligacy has taught governments to adopt the old maxim of the slave market, that it is cheaper to buy than to breed, to import defenders from an Opposition than to rear them in a Ministry. Macaulay , Hallam's Const. Hist. (b) A workman who accepts lower wages than those current at the time and place or required by an authorized scale, or one who takes a position vacated by a striker, or one who refuses to strike when others do. [Colloq.] The men who agree to go into the strike are always the more united and determined cla . The rats who refuse The American , III. 181. suffer accordingly. (ct) A clergyman: so called in contempt. Hall i well. 6. Something suggesting the idea of a rat, as a curving roll of stuffed cloth or of crimped hair-work, with tapering ends, formerly (about 1860-70) and still occasionally used by by women to puff out the hair, which was turned over it. At one time even a small amount of natural hair easily served the purpose of covering the crescent-shaped pillows on which it was put up, the startling names of which were rats and mice. The Century , XXXVI. 769. Alexandrian rat, a gray or rufous-backed and white-bellied variety of Mus rattus, to which the name M. alex an drinus has been applied, owing to its having been first discovered at Alexandria in Egypt, but which is not specifically distinct from the black rat. - Bamboo-rat, an Indian murine rodent mammal of the genus Rhizomys, as R. sum a tranus. The bay bamboo-rat is R. badius. The species are also called canets. See cut under Rhizomys. - Bandicoot rat. (a) The Anglo-Indian name of the large murine rodents of India, of the family Muridæ, subfamily Phlœomyinæ, and genus Nesoria, of which there are several species, all Indian. N. griff it hi is an example. See cut under Nesokia. (b) Same as bandicoot, 2.- Black rat, Mus rattus, one of the most anciently known rats, now almost cosmopolitan, and typically of a blackish color, but very variable in this respect. It is rather smaller than the Norway gray rat. In one of its varieties it is known as roof rat ( Mus tectorum ) and white - bellied rat. See cut under Mu ridæ.-Hare-tailed rat. See lemming. - Maorirat, the black rat, Mus rattus, introduced and naturalized in New Zealand. Mountain rat, the large bushy-tailed woodrat of the Rocky Mountain region, Neotoma cinerea; the pack-rat. [U. S.] - Norway rat, the common rat, Mus de cumanus. - Pack-rat, the mountain rat, Neotoma cinerea: so called on account of its curious and inveterate habit of dragging off to its hole any object it can move. [Western U. S.J-Pharaonic rat, Pharaoh's rat, the ichneumon: a phrase traceable back at least to Belon (about 1555). See Herpestes. Also called Pharaoh's mouse. - Pouched rat. See pouched. To have a rat in the garret, to be slightly crack-brained: same as to have a bee in one's bon net (which see, under bee ). - To smell a rat, to be suspicious that all is not right; have an inkling of some mischief, plot, or underhand proceeding. Quoth Hudibras, "I smell a rat : Ralpho, thou dost prevaricate." S. Butler, Hudibras, I. i. 821. rat1 (rat), v.; pret. and pp. ratted, ppr. ratting. [ His ci-devant friends curse the hour that he ratted . Barham , In golds by Legends, II. 385. I am fully resolved to oppose several of the clauses. But to declare my intention publicly, at a moment when the Government is in danger, would have the appearance of ratting. Macaulay, in Trevelyan, I. 275. 3. To work for le than current wages, to refuse to strike with fellow-workmen, or to take the place of one who has struck: often with indefinite it. See rat1, n., 5 (b). [Colloq.] II. trans. 1. To puff out (the hair) by means of a rat. See rat1 , n., 6. [Rare.] Next morning, at breakfast, Sin Saxon was as beautifully ruffled, ratted, and crimped -as gay, as bewitching, and defiant-as ever. Mrs. Whitney, Leslie Gold thwaite, x. 2. To displace or supplant union workers in: as, to rat an office or a shop. [Colloq.] rat2+ (rat), n. [Usually in pl. rats, I rattes and i clutes. rat2+ (rat), v. t. [ How watz thou hardy this hous for thyn vnhap [to] neze, In on so ratted a robe & rent at the sydes? Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 144. rat3 (rat), v. t. [Prob. a var. of rot ; cf. drat2 , in similar use.] A term of objurgation, used in the imperative. Give him three ratafias , soaked in a de ert-spoonful of George Eliot , Mill on the Flo , vi. 1. 3. A switch or stick of ratan, especially a walk- ing-stick. Mr. Humley did give me a little black rattoon , painted and gilt. Pepys , Diary, an. 1660. ratan, rattan2 (ra-tan'), v . t . [ ratan , rattan2 , n.] 1. To use ratan in making; cover or form with interlaced lengths of ratan. Moorish designed ceilings, rattaned sofa seats, and closet and toilet rooms. ratan-cane (ra-tan'kān), n. Same as ratan , 3. ratanhine (rat'an-in), n. [ ratanhia (see ratany ) + -ine2 .] An alkaloid (C10H13 NO3) occurring in small quantity in the ex- tract of ratany-root. ratany (rat'a-ni), n. [Also rattany , ratanhy , and rhatany ; = F. ratanhia , ratanhia , ratan a , native name.] 1. A procum- shrub, Krameria tri- andra , yielding medicinal root. Its foliage is silver-gray with silky hairs, and it bears star-like lake-colored flowers singly in the up- per axils. See Krameria and ratany -root. 2. A medicinal sub- stance procured from this plant: same as ratany-root. Pará, Brazilian, or Ceara ratany, a substitute for the true ratany, obtained from Krameria argentea of northeastern Brazil. ratany-root (rat'a-ni-röt), n. The root-sub- stance of the ratany, used in medicine for its astringent, diuretic, and detergent properties, and in the adulteration of port-wine. rataplan (rat-a-plon'), n. [F.; imitative. Cf. rattan3 , rat- a - tat .] The sound or music of the military drum; a tattoo or "rub-a-dub." rat-a-tat (rat'a-tat'), n. [Imitative. Cf. rat- tat , rat - tat - too .] A rattling sound or effect, as from the beating of a drum. rat-catcher (rat'kach"ėr), n . ne is the catching of rats; a ratter. rat-catching (rat'kach ing), n. of rats, now pursued as a busine by rat- catchers, and formerly to a large extent in Great Britain, with dogs or ferrets, as a popu- lar amusement. ratch1 (rach), v . [An a ibilated form of rack1 , or in part a var. of retch1 or reach1 : see rack1 , v.] I. trans. 1. To stretch or pull asunder.-2. To spot or streak. Hall i well . II. in trans . Naut ., to make a stretch or vary- ing stretches in sailing; sail by the wind or by tacks; stand off and on. There was a fleet of smacks ratching to the eastward on our port bow. W. C. Ru ell , Jack's Courtship, xxiii. ratch1 (rach), n . [An a ibilated form of rack1 : see rack1 , n . In defs. 3 and 4, directly from the verb. Cf. dim. ratchet .] 1. In a machine, a bar having angular teeth, into which a pawl drops, to prevent the machine from being reversed in motion. A circular ratch is a ratchet - wheel . - 2. In clockwork , a sort of wheel having fangs, which serve to lift the detents and thereby cause the clock to strike.-3. A straight line. [Prov. Eng.] -4. A white mark on the face of a horse. [Eng.] ratch2+ (rach), n. [Early mod. E. also rach , rache ; racche , rache , ræcc , a dog, = Icel. rakki , a dog.] A dog that hunts by scent. As they ryde talkynge, A rach ther come flyngynge Overtwert the way. Thanne seyde old and yonge, From her first gynnynge, They ne sawe honde never so gay. IMG:content-1658.png:[subsumed][ocr errors][merged small] For both purposes an arrangement similar to that shown in the cut is employed. a is the ratchet-wheel, and b the reciprocating lever, to the end of which is jointed a small a ratchet or pawl c, furnished with a catch of the same form as the teeth of the wheel, which, when the lever is moved in one direction, slides over the teeth, but in returning draws the wheel with it. The pawl c is forced into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel by the spring f . The other ratchet, d, which may be used either separately or in combination with the first, permits of the motion of the wheel in the direction of the arrow, but opposes its re- turn in the opposite direction. Also called click - wheel . See also cut under pawl . ratchet-wrench (rach'et-rench), n. A ratchet bed-key wrench. ratchety (rach'e-ti), a . [ ratchet +-yl.] Like the movement of a ratchet; jerky; clicking. Raikes... poured out a ratchety but vehement pane- gyric. The Money - Makers , p. 128. ratchil, n. ratch ment (rach'ment), n. [ ratch1 + -ment . ] In arch ., a flying-buttre which springs from the principals of a herse and abuts against the central or chief principal. Oxford Glo ary . ratel (rāt), v .; pret. and pp. rated , ppr. rating . [ raten , chide, scold, in comp., rata , reject, refuse, slight, find fault with (cf. rat- gods , refuse goods), = Norw. rata , reject, cast There are in England and Scotland two kinds of hunt- ing dogs: the first is called a rache ; and this is a foot- scenting creature, both of wild beasts, birds, and fishes also which lie hid among the rocks; the female hereof is called in England a brache. Gentleman's Recreation , p. 28. ratch3 (rach), v . t . Same as rash3 . [Scotch.) ratch4 (rach), n. [Origin obscure. Cf. ratchel .] A subsoil of stone and gravel mixed with clay. Hall i well. [Prov. Eng.] ratched (racht), p . a . [Pp. of ratch3 , v .] Rag- ged; in a ruinous state. Jamie son . [Scotch.] ratchel (rach'el), n . [Also ratchell , ratchil ; cf. ratch, ratcher. Perhaps rutschel , the frag- ments from two ma es of rock sliding one on rubbish, trash, = Icel. hrat , hrati , rubbish, trash, skins, stones, etc., of berries; Norw. rata , bad, worthle : see rat2.] I. trans. 1. To chide with vehemence; reprove; scold; censure vio- lently. He shal be rated of his studying. Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 277. Go, rate thy minions, proud insulting boy! Shak ., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 2. 84. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia rate No words may rate , nor rigour him remove From greedy hold of that his blouddy feast. Spenser, F. Q., IV. ix. 31. II. in trans. To utter vehement censure or reproof; inveigh scoldingly: with at . Yea, the Moores, meeting with this beast, doe rate and braule at him. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 42. Such a one As all day long hath rated at her child, And vext his day. Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette.