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to rat

to rat

119 8.8
To betray others by telling secret information about them
  • verb
  • /ræt/
  • Informal
: delatar
  • Are you gonna have to rat me out now, George?

You don't rat on your mates and they don't do it to you.

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Examples

  • Do you always rat out your friends that quickly?

  • Few people like to "rat" on their friends.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Did you rat me out?

  • Are you gonna rat me out?

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I'll never rat on you.

  • One reason may be that students do not wish to "rat" on other students and, therefore, let the cheating pass.

    Academic text (1996)
  • I didn't rat you out.

  • If you want someone to rat out a criminal, offering them $10,000 might just do it.

    Blog text (13)
  • "Don't worry, Hugo, I'd never rat you out," nodded Rick.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I can't believe you would rat on your friends for such a small thing.

Synonyms

to give away
vsto rat
130 3.4

Tell a secret on purpose or by accident

often implies deliberate betrayal or strikebreaking rather than accidental leaks
to rat out
vsto rat
  • Informal
80 8.6

To tell the police or another authority about someone's bad action, betraying their trust

also covers doing that but includes working against striking colleagues
to snitch
vsto rat
  • Slang
51 7.9

To secretly tell the police or a person in charge about someone's bad actions

adds informal insult and also includes strikebreaking meaning
to tell on
vsto rat
  • Informal
47 4.4

To report to a person in charge that someone did something wrong so they get in trouble

is similar but used more broadly and as an insult sometimes
to betray
vsto rat
24 4.6

Tell someone's secret to other people

is informal and also specifically applies to replacement workers
to nark
vsto rat
  • Slang
3 9.9

To tell the police about someone's crimes or secrets

covers that action too but also includes replacing striking workers
to scab
vsto rat
  • Offensive
2 9.1

To work during a strike to replace striking workers

is broader, including informing others as another form of betrayal
to denounce
vsto rat
  • Formal
1 6.5

Tell authorities about someone, often exposing them to punishment

is usually private and informal rather than public denunciation
to shop
vsto rat
  • Informal
1 8.0

To tell the police or a manager that someone did something wrong

adds informal betrayal sense and also includes strikebreaking
to grass
vsto rat
  • Slang
1 9.9

To tell the police that someone has done something wrong

is informal like this but also names replacement worker behaviour
to fink
vsto rat
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To work while other workers are on strike, often seen as a betrayal

covers this betrayal but also includes secret informing meanings
to snout
vsto rat
  • UK
9.3

To tell the police about someone so they get in trouble

is similar but also labels someone who crosses picket lines
to blackleg
vsto rat
  • UK
9.4

To work in place of workers who are on strike

includes that role but also means informing or betraying privately

Antonyms

810 1.0

A person who backs a team or a cause

Idioms

43 9.9

To care at all about something

Very quickly, especially when leaving or running away

9.9

Very quick and lively in a slightly surprising, playful way

poor as a rat
  • Informal
8.3

Having almost no money or things

Phrasal Verbs

to rat out
  • Informal
80 8.6

To tell the police or another authority about someone's bad action, betraying their trust

Compounds

lab rat
  • Offensive
34 6.1

A person used by others for tests who often feels watched or controlled

rat bastard
  • Offensive
16 9.9

A rude word for a person who is cruel or dishonest

rat race
  • Informal
15 4.0

A busy, competitive working life that leaves little time to relax

hood rat
  • Offensive
8 9.9

An insulting word for a person from a poor neighborhood who behaves in a rough or criminal way

pack rat
  • Informal
6 7.4

A person who keeps many things and does not throw them away

5 7.7

A series of quick, sharp knocks often on a door or drum

sewer rat
  • Offensive
4 9.0

An insulting name for a person thought to be very bad and not to be trusted

gym rat
  • Slang
4 7.7

A person who spends a lot of time exercising in a gym

4 4.1

A brown rat that lives in sewers and other dirty city places

4 4.7

A small animal that digs tunnels and lives mostly underground like a mole

3 8.0

A small hopping animal that lives in deserts, often in North America and Mexico, and eats seeds

2 7.3

A small North American animal like a rat with a bushy tail that collects objects

A series of short, sharp tapping sounds like knocking on a door

river rat
  • Informal
2 8.3

A person who spends a lot of time near rivers and likes boating or fishing

A small almost hairless African animal that lives underground in large groups like ants

1 5.1

A small energetic dog bred to hunt rats

1 7.4

A person who catches and kills rats to keep places clean

kangaroo rat
  • Australian
1 8.1

A small Australian animal with a pouch that looks like a rat but is related to kangaroos

1 4.2

A large brown rat that lives near people and often causes trouble

1 5.3

A snake that is not poisonous and eats rats and mice

1 7.4

A small rat that lives in roofs or attics

1 3.9

A small animal like a rat that lives in or near water

frat rat
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A college student who spends too much time at fraternity parties

1 2.3

A small dark animal like a large mouse that lives near people and often carries disease

1 6.3

A small desert animal like a mouse that hops on long hind legs and has a long tail

1 8.0

A brown animal like a mouse that lives on docks and eats bait

1 6.7

A small wild animal like a rat that lives in forests, builds nests, and often collects things

water rat
  • Informal
1 7.9

A person who likes being in water or on a boat

wharf rat
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who lives near docks and steals from ships or warehouses

plague rat
  • Offensive
1 9.9

An insulting word for a person people think is dishonest or harmful

Damaraland mole rat
  • South African
1 9.9

A small burrowing mammal from western Africa that lives in underground colonies

rat racer
  • Offensive
1 8.6

A person who tries to get ahead at work by using unfair or dishonest ways

1 2.1

A common rat that lives near people and damages food and buildings

1 8.6

A small animal like a mouse that lives in holes in the desert

1 5.3

A large shiny black snake from North America that is not venomous and eats rats and mice

tree rat
  • Slang
1 8.9

A squirrel that people see as a pest

1 9.0

A small wild animal like a mouse that lives in marsh grass and eats plants and insects

welfare rat
  • Offensive
1 9.9

An insulting name for a person who cheats to get government help

rat-tail file
  • Specialized
1 9.5

A thin metal tool with a round taper used to smooth small round holes and curves

rat cheese
  • Slang
1 8.9

A strong yellow cheese like American cheddar

1 8.1

A wild rat that lives underground and damages crops

sky rat
  • Slang
1 9.9

A city bird like a pigeon that people see as a pest

rat kangaroo
  • Australian
1 8.2

A small Australian animal with a pouch that looks like a rabbit-sized rat

beaver rat
  • Australian
1 9.9

A small animal from Australia and New Guinea that lives in water and looks like a beaver

rat cheese
  • Slang
1 9.9

A joke name for old food that smells bad

1 9.9

A small mammal from southern South America that looks like a shrew and carries its young in a pouch

1 9.1

A small animal with a bushy tail that collects and hides small things

wood-rat
  • Specialized
1 7.6

A small rodent like a mouse from North America with a bushy tail that collects things for its nest

rat typhus
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A serious disease that causes fever and a rash when fleas spread bacteria to people

cat and rat
  • Baby Talk
1 8.0

A circle game where players join hands and raise them to let a child pass while another catches them

marsupial rat
  • Australian
1 9.9

A small animal like a mouse that eats insects and carries its young in a pouch

bandicoot rat
  • Indian
1 9.9

A large burrowing rat with a scaly tail found in India and Sri Lanka

jerboa rat
  • Australian
1 9.9

A large Australian mouse-like animal with long back legs that jumps far

Ord kangaroo rat
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A small mouse-like animal with large back legs that hops and lives in burrows in the western United States

bottle rat
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who drinks too much at parties and seeks free drinks

A small animal like a rat with soft thick fur and big ears that lives in the Andes

dwarf pocket rat
  • Specialized
9.9

A small animal like a mouse with soft fur and pouches in its cheeks

A North American wood rat with dark feet that builds large stick nests

Florida water rat
  • Specialized
9.9

A small animal like a mouse that lives in Florida marshes and swims

8.0

A large snake from South and Southeast Asia that is not poisonous and often enters buildings to catch mice

queen mole rat
  • Specialized
9.2

A larger female in a colony of naked mole rats who is the only one to have babies

rat with wings
  • Offensive
9.8

An annoying person or thing that keeps coming back

rat run
  • UK
8.1

A narrow hidden path people use to go somewhere faster

rat-licker
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who praises someone in power to get advantages

5.5

A large harmless reddish snake from the southern United States that lives on farms and in woods

9.4

A large rat that lives in pine forests and sometimes damages crops

9.9

A small animal like a mouse that uses fur-lined cheek pouches to carry food

9.9

A harmful false idea that people who get government help are lazy or dishonest

winter rat
  • Informal
9.9

A person who stays mostly indoors during winter to avoid the cold

winged rat
  • Offensive
9.2

An insulting name for a flying animal like a pigeon that people see as dirty or annoying

How Disloyal

to rat
  • Informal
119 8.8
to inform
682 1.0
to tell on
  • Informal
47 4.4
to tattle
  • Informal
10 7.0

Surface Forms

rat infinitive
ratted past
ratted past participle
ratting present participle
rats third person singular

Etymology

Rat as a verb meaning to betray comes from the insult word for the animal, because calling someone a 'rat' led to the action word for informing or betraying others. So to rat on someone is to tell on them or act as a betrayer.