[H]e laid hold of the first ratline with his right hand, then sprung to the second, with his left, and so on alternately, right and left, up to the last, close to the futtock shrouds.
Source: wiktionary
Ratline
//ˈɹætlɪn//
Synonyms for "ratline" (4 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Translations
15 translations across 10 languages.
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 繩梯 /绳梯 noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
- 老鼠線 /老鼠线 noun (Nazi escape route system)
Dutch
1 entries- rattenlijn noun (Nazi escape route system)
Finnish
1 entries- väylinki noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
French
1 entries- enfléchure noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
German
3 entries- Rattenlinie noun (Nazi escape route system)
- Webeleine noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
- Webleine noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
Hebrew
2 entries- חֲוַק חֶבֶל noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
- חַוְקֵי הַתֹּרֶן noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
Polish
1 entries- wyblinka noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
Russian
2 entries- вы́бленка noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
- вы́бленка noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
Spanish
1 entries- flechaste noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
Swedish
1 entries- vevling noun (net like ropework of the shrouds)
Sample sentences
3 total sentences available.
That meant it was not possible to use ratlines — that is, to make rope ladders out of the shrouds by adding small connecting pieces of ropes.
Source: wiktionary
Marc Masurovsky, of the European Shoah Legacy Institute, has a remarkable knowledge of the Nazi ratlines and Allied intelligence.
Source: wiktionary
Keep exploring
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.