HOW TO PRONOUNCE
ratchet
/ˈɹætʃət/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does ratchet mean?
noun
- A pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.
- A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch and pawl.
- A ratchet wrench.
More meanings (8)
noun
- A procedure or regulation that goes in one direction, usually up.
- A mechanism for generating a new unique key for each message by moving forward in a sequence.
- A noisemaker or musical instrument where sound is generated by a board striking against a rotating gear.
- Ellipsis of full ratchet.
- (derogatory, slang) A person, usually a female, who acts or behaves in a ghetto, unseemly, or indecorous way or manner.
verb
- To increment or decrement; especially, to offer controlled motion that can increment while resisting decrement, or vice versa.
- To cause (something) to become incremented or decremented.
adjective
- (derogatory, slang) Ghetto; unseemly, indecorous.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈɹætʃət/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Each shaft with its dial was provided with two ratchet wheels, one the reverse of the other.
The third cause which catches hold, like a ratchet wheel in machinery, from time to time producing a complete standstill, is the greater strength of the defensive form.
More book examples (1)
Other similar designs are known, by which the whole of the after deck can be pushed over from the stern by a ratchet arrangement, with air-tanks below to buoy it up: it seems to be a practical suggestion.