ratnoun [ C ]
uk/ræt/us/ræt/rat noun [ C ] (ANIMAL)
A2 a small rodent, larger than a mouse, that has a long tail and is considered to be harmful:
Rats carry disease.
I think we've got rats (= there are rats in our house).
More examples
- Bottles of lemonade doctored with rat poison were discovered in the kitchen.
- In biology classes at school we used to dissect rats.
- The period of gestation of rats is 21 days.
- The barn was infested with rats.
- We put down some poisoned bait to kill the rats.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Rodents & similar animals
- beaver
- bunny
- chinchilla
- chipmunk
- coney
- cony
- coypu
- gopher
- groundhog
- guinea pig
- hamster
- hare
- marmot
- mice
- mole
- mouse
- prairie dog
- rabbit
- shrew
- woodchuck
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rat noun [ C ] (PERSON)
informal an unpleasant person who deceives others or is not loyal
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People who reveal secrets & tell tales
- big mouth
- blabbermouth
- dobber
- fink
- grass
- informer
- nark
- rumour-monger
- scandalmonger
- scaremonger
- sneak
- snitch
- source
- stool pigeon
- supergrass
- tattletale
- telltale
- whistle-blower
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Unpleasant people in general