to rat
- verb
- /ræt/
- Informal
- 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.
- You don't rat on your mates and they don't do it to you.
- Like if you if you who like, you know, if you rat on all of us, you're going to get choked out in the hallway.
- Well, I'm just, I'm curious, but they they've, they've tell the the migrants, if you rat me out, if you squeal, they're not going to get paid.
- And as they chose you out how crazy it was, I only got respect then I didn't rat them out and I could held my own.
- And so, so none of them ratted out, but the two team leaders fessed up.
- And if you tell me I love you, I have to rat you out.
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
Tell someone's secret to other people
Tell a secret on purpose or by accident
To tell the police or another authority about someone's bad action, betraying their trust
To secretly tell the police or a person in charge about someone's bad actions
To report to a person in charge that someone did something wrong so they get in trouble
Tell authorities about someone, often exposing them to punishment
To tell the police or a manager that someone did something wrong
To tell the police about someone's crimes or secrets
To tell the police that someone has done something wrong
To work during a strike to replace striking workers
To work while other workers are on strike, often seen as a betrayal
To tell the police about someone so they get in trouble
To work in place of workers who are on strike
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
To tell the police or another authority about someone's bad action, betraying their trust
Compounds
- Offensive
An insulting word for a person from a poor neighborhood who behaves in a rough or criminal way
- US
A small hopping animal that lives in deserts, often in North America and Mexico, and eats seeds
- US
A small desert animal like a mouse that hops on long hind legs and has a long tail
A small dark animal like a large mouse that lives near people and often carries disease
- South African
A small burrowing mammal from western Africa that lives in underground colonies
A small almost hairless African animal that lives underground in large groups like ants
- Offensive
An insulting name for a person thought to be very bad and not to be trusted
- US
A small wild animal like a rat that lives in forests, builds nests, and often collects things
- Australian
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
- Baby Talk
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
- Specialized
A small animal like a mouse with soft fur and pouches in its cheeks
- Specialized
A small animal like a mouse that lives in Florida marshes and swims
- Australian
A small animal like a mouse that eats insects and carries its young in a pouch
- Indian
A large snake from South and Southeast Asia that is not poisonous and often enters buildings to catch mice
- Australian
A small Australian animal with a pouch that looks like a rat but is related to kangaroos
- Specialized
A larger female in a colony of naked mole rats who is the only one to have babies
- Australian
A small Australian animal with a pouch that looks like a rabbit-sized rat
- Specialized
A serious disease that causes fever and a rash when fleas spread bacteria to people
- Specialized
A thin metal tool with a round taper used to smooth small round holes and curves
A large harmless reddish snake from the southern United States that lives on farms and in woods
- US
A small wild animal like a mouse that lives in marsh grass and eats plants and insects
- Specialized
A small mouse-like animal with large back legs that hops and lives in burrows in the western United States
- US
A small mammal from southern South America that looks like a shrew and carries its young in a pouch
- Offensive
A harmful false idea that people who get government help are lazy or dishonest
- Offensive
An insulting name for a flying animal like a pigeon that people see as dirty or annoying
- Specialized
A small rodent like a mouse from North America with a bushy tail that collects things for its nest
How Disloyal
- Informal
- Informal
- Informal
Surface Forms
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.