Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One that catches or kills rats.
- noun Slang One who betrays or deserts another.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who rats, or becomes a renegade; also, a workman who renders himself obnoxious to a trades-union. See
ratting , 2. - noun One who catches rats; a rat-catcher.
- noun An animal which catches rats, as a terrier.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who, or that which, rats, as one who deserts his party.
- noun Anything which catches rats; esp., a dog trained to catch rats; a rat terrier. See
Terrier .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Anything which catches rats, especially a
dog trained to catch them; a ratterrier . - noun One who
rats ; atraitor ; adeserter .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of several breeds of terrier developed to catch rats
- noun a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"ratter" -- superstitious Tudor sailors did not have cats on board as they were thought to bring bad luck.
Reuters: Top News 2010
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In the Central and South American countries this snake is highly valued as a "ratter" and frequents human habitations without fear.
Pathfinder or, The Missing Tenderfoot Alan Douglas
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June 26th, 2009 9: 51 pm ET call your senators tell them too vote no on this bill. this bill is bad for the economy raise the price of goods and ship manafactureing job overseas. i can't beleive how every news station is burying it. it seem they forgot howtoo stand up too make this country great, but ratter kiss polical butt
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On another tour, Cecil and Constance stayed at a boardinghouse run by a woman who kept a python as a ratter.
Empire of Dreams Scott Eyman 2010
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As for rats, they are far too big for your average cat: best to call in a good ratter like a Parson Jack Russell Terrier which can clear a whole Dutch Barn of rats in two shakes of a cat's tail.
Archive 2007-07-29 2007
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As for rats, they are far too big for your average cat: best to call in a good ratter like a Parson Jack Russell Terrier which can clear a whole Dutch Barn of rats in two shakes of a cat's tail.
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For the present, the German ratter has trounced its Irish doppelganger.
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More prosaically, a ratter out could get a one-way ticket back to his home country plus a big fat check financed through employer fines.
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I had wanted a cat for a long time, having grown up with one, and now we really needed a ratter.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Cat Jack Canfield 2009
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I had wanted a cat for a long time, having grown up with one, and now we really needed a ratter.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Cat Jack Canfield 2009
fbharjo commented on the word ratter
certain breeds of dogs were breed to root out rats hence the term 'ratter'
July 13, 2009