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to rat

to rat

70 8.8
To betray others by telling secret information about them
  • verb
  • /ræt/
  • Informal
translation icon : 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 betray
vsto rat
143 4.6

Tell someone's secret to other people

is informal and also specifically applies to replacement workers
to give away
vsto rat
114 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
76 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
36 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
35 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 denounce
vsto rat
  • Formal
19 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
12 8.0

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

adds informal betrayal sense and also includes strikebreaking
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 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 scab
vsto rat
  • Offensive
1 9.1

To work during a strike to replace striking workers

is broader, including informing others as another form of betrayal
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

817 1.0

A person who backs a team or a cause

Idioms

9 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
76 8.6

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

Compounds

lab rat
  • Offensive
18 6.1

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

rat bastard
  • Offensive
13 9.9

A rude word for a person who is cruel or dishonest

rat race
  • Informal
12 4.0

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

pack rat
  • Informal
6 7.4

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

hood rat
  • Offensive
5 9.9

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

3 4.7

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

gym rat
  • Slang
2 7.7

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

1 7.4

A small rat that lives in roofs or attics

1 8.0

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

1 6.3

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

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

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

1 7.4

A person who catches and kills rats to keep places clean

1 2.3

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

1 2.1

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

Damaraland mole rat
  • South African
1 9.9

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

frat rat
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A college student who spends too much time at fraternity parties

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

1 7.7

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

rat with wings
  • Offensive
1 9.8

An annoying person or thing that keeps coming back

1 5.1

A small energetic dog bred to hunt rats

1 7.3

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

1 8.6

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

1 4.1

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

sewer rat
  • Offensive
1 9.0

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

1 6.7

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

beaver rat
  • Australian
9.9

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

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

bottle rat
  • Offensive
9.9

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

cat and rat
  • Baby Talk
8.0

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

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

8.1

A wild rat that lives underground and damages crops

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

bandicoot rat
  • Indian
9.9

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

Florida water rat
  • Specialized
9.9

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

marsupial rat
  • Australian
9.9

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

8.0

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

jerboa rat
  • Australian
9.9

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

kangaroo rat
  • Australian
8.1

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

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 cheese
  • Slang
8.9

A strong yellow cheese like American cheddar

rat cheese
  • Slang
9.9

A joke name for old food that smells bad

rat kangaroo
  • Australian
8.2

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

rat typhus
  • Specialized
8.3

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

rat racer
  • Offensive
8.6

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

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

rat-tail file
  • Specialized
9.5

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

5.5

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

9.0

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

river rat
  • Informal
8.3

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

Ord kangaroo rat
  • Specialized
9.9

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

9.9

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

9.4

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

plague rat
  • Offensive
9.9

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

9.9

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

9.1

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

tree rat
  • Slang
8.9

A squirrel that people see as a pest

sky rat
  • Slang
9.9

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

water rat
  • Informal
7.9

A person who likes being in water or on a boat

3.9

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

welfare rat
  • Offensive
9.9

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

9.9

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

wharf rat
  • Offensive
9.9

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

8.0

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

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

wood-rat
  • Specialized
7.6

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

How Disloyal

to rat
  • Informal
70 8.8
to inform
1.0
to tell on
  • Informal
35 4.4
to tattle
  • Informal
8 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.