winged rat

9.2

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

noun

Offensive

: rata voladora

Many people refer to pigeons as winged rats because of their scavenging habits.

Examples

He called the bats in the attic winged rats and wanted them gone immediately.
The park was overrun with winged rats searching for leftover food.
That winged rat just landed on my balcony.
Many people consider winged rats to be pests.
Many people refer to pigeons as winged rats due to their frequent scavenging in urban areas.
In the city, winged rats often gather around parks, hoping to find crumbs from picnics.
Teachers sometimes describe bats as winged rats to highlight their unappealing appearance.

Synonyms

sky rat

vswinged rat

Slang

1 9.9

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

is a general derogatory label for birds or bats that resemble rodents

rat with wings

vswinged rat

Offensive

9.8

An annoying person or thing that keeps coming back

focuses on birds or flying animals resembling rodents rather than people

Surface Forms

winged rat singular

winged rats plural

Morphology

winged + rat

The term is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: 'winged' (having wings) + 'rat' (rodent), so a learner can infer a creature like a rat that has wings or a derogatory label for a bird that looks rat-like. This compositional and figurative insult follows regular English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably deduce the intended meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Winged rat is a modern insult that comes from imagining a rat with wings. People used that strong picture for city birds like pigeons or bats that search for leftover food and look dirty, so the phrase became a rude way to show dislike of those animals.