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Ratty
//ˈɹæti// adj, noun, slang
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Resembling or characteristic of a rat; ratlike.
- 2 Infested with rats.
- 3 In poor condition or repair. figuratively, informal
"We got an old tin lantern, and a butcher knife without any handle, and a bran-new Barlow knife worth two bits in any store, and a lot of tallow candles, and a tin candlestick, and a gourd, and a tin cup, and a ratty old bed-quilt off the bed, […] and just as we were leaving I found a tolerable good curry-comb, and Jim he found a ratty old fiddle-bow, and a wooden leg."
- 4 Crazy, mad; ridiculous; slightly strange, eccentric; also (followed by about, on, or over), attracted to, infatuated with. Australia, figuratively, informal
- 5 Annoyed, bad-tempered, irritable. figuratively, informal
"He got bad, he got ratty, he would take it out on people around him. He was mean when it turned against him."
Adjective
- 1 dirty and infested with rats wordnet
- 2 showing signs of wear and tear wordnet
- 3 of or characteristic of rats wordnet
Noun
- 1 Synonym of knock down ginger (“prank of knocking on a front door and running away”). uncountable
Etymology
From rat + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjective).
See also for "ratty"
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