black rat
1
2.3
- noun
- /blæk ræt/
:
rata negra
- Rattus, the black rat or ship rat.
Examples
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"An enormous black rat crawled across a clotted mess of refuse and dropped into the oily water.
Fiction book (2000) -
The black rat is often found in urban areas, where it scavenges for food.
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Last night, a black rat scurried across my kitchen floor, surprising me.
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Many people consider the black rat a common pest because of its tendency to invade homes.
Synonyms
692
1.0
A small animal like a large mouse with a long tail that lives near people
1
7.4
A small rat that lives in roofs or attics
A small black rat with a long tail that lives near houses and is often a pest
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase 'black rat' is a direct combination of the adjective 'black' and the noun 'rat', describing a dark-colored rat; a B1 learner who knows both words can infer this meaning. This compositional, non-idiomatic pattern is cross-linguistically common and refers to a literal property, so it is transparent.
Etymology
The noun black rat is the name for a small dark rat that came from Asia and travelled on old ships, so people and goods carried it around the world. Because it climbed into houses and often carried disease, it became known as a common household 'pest'.