Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Ratchet |
RatchetNoun1. Mechanical device consisting of a toothed wheel or rack engaged with a pawl that permits it to move in only one direction. Verb1. Move by degrees in one direction only, as of toothed wheels. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "ratchet" was first used: 1659. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Food & Agriculture | Toothed wheel or rack capable of movement in one direction only. Movement in the other direction being prevented by a pawl. Source: European Union. (references) |
Industry | A wheel with a toothed edge fastened to the end of either a cloth beam or a warp beam to control the winding action. Source: European Union. (references) |
Mechanical Engineering | A mechanism consisting of a ratchet wheel(or of a rack)and a pawl. It is used to drive or to stop another mechanism. Source: European Union. (references) |
Mining | A set of teeth that are vertical on one side and sloped on the other; holds a pawl moving in one direction, but allows it to move in another. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In Brythonic mythology, the Cwn Annwn ("hounds of Annwn") were the white, red-eared ghostly hounds of Annwn, the land of the dead. They were associated with the Wild Hunt, presided over by either Arawn or Gwynn ap Nudd.In Wales, they were associated with migrating geese. They are supposed to hunt on specific nights (eves of St. John, St. Martin, Saint Michael the Archangel, All Saints, Christmas, New Year, St. Agnes, St. David, and Good Friday), or just in the autumn and winter. Some say that Arawn only hunts from Christmas to Twelfth Night.
Arawn and the hounds are sometimes accompanied by a fearsome hag calld the Mallt-y-Nos, Matilda of the Night.
Alternative: Cwn Mamau ("hounds of the mothers"), Gabriel Hounds (England), Ratchets (England), Yell Hounds, Isle of Man
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cwn Annwn."
Synonyms: RatchetSynonyms: rachet (n), ratch (n), rachet up (v), ratchet down (v). (additional references) |
| Synonyms by domain: clicked (mechanical engineering), lock-in (mechanical engineering). |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Connection | Pin, corking pin, nail, brad, tack, skewer, staple, corrugated fastener; clamp, U-clamp, C-clamp; cramp, cramp iron; ratchet, detent, larigo, pawl; terret, treenail, screw, button, buckle; clasp, hasp, hinge, hank, catch, latch, bolt, latchet, tag; tooth; hook, hook and eye; lock, holdfast, padlock, rivet; anchor, grappling iron, trennel, stake, post. |
Sharpness | Nib, tooth, tusk; spoke, cog, ratchet. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Ratchet |
| English words defined with "ratchet": click ♦ detent, Disappearing carriage, dog ♦ Gypsy winch ♦ Mousing ♦ pawl ♦ Ratchet brace, Ratchet drill, ratchet screwdriver ♦ spiral ratchet screwdriver, Star wheel. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "ratchet": BARREL-BRIDGE ASSEMBLER, BLIND-SLAT-STAPLING-MACHINE OPERATOR, BROOM STITCHER ♦ cross wheel mechanism, CROWN-WHEEL ASSEMBLER, CURTAIN-ROLLER ASSEMBLER ♦ DEBONER, PET FOOD ♦ geneva cross mechanism, Geneva mechanism, Geneva wheel ♦ LINE-OUT WORKER II ♦ MAGNET-VALVE ASSEMBLER, maltese cross mechanism ♦ PRESSER, BUFFING WHEEL, PRINTING SCREEN ASSEMBLER ♦ ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing, ratchet tie-down, ratchet-and-pawl mechanism ♦ screen stretcher, SNAILER ♦ tension jack ♦ vibracone. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Ratchet and Clank (2002) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Shenandoah Valley. W.W. Walton cutting a ratchet on a shaper in the Staunton Machine Works, Staunton, Virginia. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Ratchet wrench 2" by Annette Gulick Commentary: "A ratchet wrench." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Play | Caption |
 | Ratchet winding. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Ratchet" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.00% of the time. "Ratchet" is used about 80 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95% | 76 | 38,217 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.5% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 1.25% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 1.25% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 80 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "ratchet": ratchet and pawl ♦ ratchet brace ♦ ratchet down ♦ ratchet drill ♦ ratchet gearing ♦ ratchet screwdriver ♦ ratchet wheel ♦ spiral ratchet screwdriver. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "ratchet": ratchet-and-pawl, ratchet-like, ratchet-weel. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "ratchet"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | arpion (click, pawl), çirik me arpion. (various references) | |
Arabic | الشقاطة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | храпово колело (notched wheel, ratchet wheel). (various references) | |
Chinese | 棘轮. (various references) | |
Czech | rohatka, západka, ozubená tyè. (various references) | |
Danish | skraldepal, skralde (ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing, rattle), pal (bolt, cam, catch, click, detent, inverse cam, latch, lock, pawl, phase alternate line, phase alternation line, pin, programmable array logic, rack element), låsholder (latch jaw, lock, rackbar), klinkemekanisme (ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing), klinke (bolt, catch, click, latch, lever latch, pawl, pin, rack element). (various references) | |
Dutch | ratel (chatterbox, tattler, telltale), patinrichting, grendel (bolt, Grendel), klamp (brace, bracket, clamp, parenthesis, staple), klink (handle), pal (clique, coterie, exactly, firmly, junto, just, okay, right, set), pal met palwiel (ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing), blokkeerpen (bolt, catch, click, latch, pawl, pin, rack element), palwiel (bolt, catch, click, latch, pawl, pin, rack element, ratchet wheel), trekker (tractor), tandboog voor de palgrendel (latch jaw, lock, rackbar), tandheugel (bolt, catch, click, gear-rack, latch, marionette, pawl, pin, rack, rack element, toothed rack), tandrad (cogwheel, gear), tandstaaf (latch jaw, lock, rackbar), teruglooppal (bolt, catch, click, latch, pawl, pin, rack element), palhouder (latch jaw, lock, rackbar). (various references) | |
Farsi | چرخ ضامن دار, گیره عایق , ضامن چرخ دنده , ضامن دارکردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | säppipyörä, hakapyörä. (various references) | |
French | rochet (rack element, ratchet seed metering device, ratchet wheel). (various references) | |
German | Sperrklinke (pawl, ratchet brace), Ratsche (ratch, rattle), Klinke (catch, handle, Jack, latch, pawl). (various references) | |
Greek | καστάνια(κν.), καστάνια (catch, dog, latch, latching, lock, pawl, ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing), κατοχέας (clear hawse slip, slip stopper, stopper), νύχι (finger nail, nail, talon), μηχανισμός καστάνιας (ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing), μηχανισμός αναστολέα (ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing), επίσχεστρο, επίσχετρο, αναστολέας (buffer, catch, inhibitor, ratchet and pawl, ratchet gearing, stop, stopper, wiper), αναστολεύσ, οδωντοτόσ τροχόσ, οδοντωτός τροχός αναστολής, οδοντωτή ράβδος (gear-rack, latch jaw, lock, rack, rackbar, toothed rack). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מחגר (escapement). (various references) | |
Hungarian | reteszelő mű (click and ratchet), zárópecek (pawl), zárókilincs (release catch), kilincsmű (click and ratchet), kerep, akasztókapocs. (various references) | |
Italian | dente di arresto (bolt, catch, click, detent, dowel, latch, pawl, pin, rack element). (various references) | |
Korean | 래치드. (various references) | |
Manx | rackeen. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | atchetray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | roquete (rochet). (various references) | |
Russian | храповик (notched wheel, ratchet-wheel). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | ustavljački točak (ratchet wheel). (various references) | |
Spanish | trinquete (clique, coterie, foremast, junto, pallet, pawl, set, trip). (various references) | |
Swedish | spärrhake (catch, click, escapement, pawl). (various references) | |
Turkish | mandal (clothes peg, clothes pin, fastener, latch, pin, ratch), kastanyola (cleat, click, pawl, ratch, trip), dişli çark mandalı (ratch). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | храповик (notched wheel), заскочка (click). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Italian | 900-Modern | rocchetto. (various references) |
| French | 1500-Modern | rochet. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "ratchet": ratcheted, ratcheting, ratchets. (additional references) | |
| |
"Ratchet" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: archet, Artchil, catcheth, Cratchet, Cratchitt, Matchet, matcheth, Natchet, Patchet, Ractech, ranchet, raschel, raschetny, ratchett, ratchety, Ratchis, Rathen, ratshit, Reichelt, richet, Ritche, ritcher, Ritschel, rochat, Rochet, Ruthcote, satchet, watchet. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "ratchet" (pronounced ratkhut or ra"khut) |
| 3 | -kh u t | hatchet. |
| 4 | -a" kh u t | hatchet. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: chatter. | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-h-r-t-t" | |
-1 letter: hatter, rachet, threat. | |
-2 letters: caret, carte, cater, chare, chart, cheat, chert, crate, earth, hater, heart, ratch, rathe, reach, react, recta, retch, tacet, tache, tater, teach, tecta, tetra, theca, theta, trace, tract, treat. | |
-3 letters: ache, acre, arch, care, cart, cate, char, chat, each, eath, etch, haet, hare, hart, hate, hear, heat, race, rate, rath. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-h-r-t-t" | |
+1 letter: attacher, catheter, chatters, chattery, chattier, ratchets, reattach, tetrarch, thatcher, theatric, theocrat, trachyte. | |
+2 letters: architect, athrocyte, attachers, catheters, charlotte, chattered, chatterer, clathrate, entrechat, ratcheted, tetrarchs, tetrarchy, thatchers, thatchier, theatrics, theocrats, tracheate, trachytes, trenchant. | |
+3 letters: anthracite, architects, arithmetic, athrocytes, charlottes, chatterbox, chatterers, chattering, clathrates, entrechats, haircutter, hematocrit, ratcheting, reattached, reattaches, rheostatic, starchiest, tachometer, technocrat, tetrachord, tetrarchic, theatrical, theocratic, tracheated, tracheitis, trochanter, watchtower. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
