Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rat.
- To play mischievous tricks upon, as an obnoxious person, for the purpose of coercion or intimidation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb Trades-union Cant To deprive feloniously of the tools used in one's employment (as by breaking or stealing them), for the purpose of annoying.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb obsolete, Northern England To
sabotage machinery ortools as part of anindustrial dispute , particularly the tools of aworkman who went against the union.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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His iron temperament was at white heat, and, as he afterwards said, he "cared no more for yon dirty chap wi 'the big nose, nor if he were a ratten 3 in a hayloft!"
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His iron temperament was at white heat, and, as he afterwards said, he "cared no more for yon dirty chap wi 'the big nose, nor if he were a _ratten_ [6] in a hay-loft!"
Jackanapes, Daddy Darwin's Dovecot and Other Stories Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing 1863
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If A contracts with B, and breaks his contract, B has no need to ratten A: he can sue him.
Put Yourself in His Place Charles Reade 1849
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Nu hebben wij zelf thuis twee tamme ratten dus de kans ...
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Dat ontdekten onderzoekers van Texas Woman's University door onderzoek op ratten.
xml's Blinklist.com 2008
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If her rites at Eleusis arc the special object of ratten tion amdng the
The two last pleadings of Marcus Tullius Cicero against Caius Verres; Kelsall, Charles, tr 1812
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It’s often stated that the tusks might be used in display or fighting, but there is also the old idea that the tusks allow males to push their way through dense stands of ratten cane, thereby allowing tusk-less females and juveniles to follow in single file behind.
Archive 2006-08-01 Darren Naish 2006
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It’s often stated that the tusks might be used in display or fighting, but there is also the old idea that the tusks allow males to push their way through dense stands of ratten cane, thereby allowing tusk-less females and juveniles to follow in single file behind.
The deer-pig, the Raksasa, the only living anthracothere… welcome to the world of babirusas Darren Naish 2006
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But this unhappy lad devoured his patrimony, when he kenned that he was living like a ratten in a Dunlap cheese, and diminishing his means at a’ hands.
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"Niver heed th 'muck; come thi ways in, for tha lukes like a hauf-draand ratten; tha'll catch thi deeath o' cold if tha hasn't summat warm.
Yorksher Puddin' A Collection of the Most Popular Dialect Stories from the Pen of John Hartley John Hartley 1877
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