# ratchet
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɹæt͡ʃɪt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æt͡ʃɪt

### Etymology 1

From French rochet (“bobbin, spindle, ratchet”), from Italian rocchetto (“spool, ratchet”).

#### Alternative forms

* rachet (archaic)

#### Noun

ratchet (plural ratchets)
* A pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.
* A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch and pawl.
* A ratchet wrench.
* (by extension) A procedure or regulation that goes in one direction, usually up.
** 2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly‎, volume 188, number 2, page 23:The threat of terrorism to the British lies in the overreaction to it of British governments. Each one in turn clicks up the ratchet of surveillance, intrusion and security. Each one diminishes liberty.
* A noisemaker or musical instrument where sound is generated by a board striking against a rotating gear.
    Hyponyms: gragger, raganella
** 2013, Charles Morgan, Youthful Folly, →ISBN, page 94:Ahead of them a group of mandibulous sales men had set up their combustion cups and incendiary ratchets to demonstrate their wares to whatever officers might come by.
* (finance) Ellipsis of full ratchet.

##### Derived terms

* Brownian ratchet
* Feynman-Smoluchowski ratchet
* full ratchet
* Muller's ratchet
* ratchet coupling
* ratchet drill
* ratchet effect
* ratchet jack
* ratchet jaw
* ratchet lever
* ratchet punch
* ratchet wrench

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Verb

ratchet (third-person singular simple present ratchets, present participle ratcheting, simple past and past participle ratcheted)
* (transitive) To cause to become incremented or decremented.
    It's time to ratchet up the intensity level here.
** 1999 March 25, “Air Campaign Against Yugoslavia”, in The New York Times‎, New York:Yugoslavia’s President, Slobodan Milosevic, has rejected all efforts at meaningful diplomacy and, in violation of his own previous commitments, has ratcheted up his military campaign against the innocent civilians of Kosovo.
* (intransitive) To increment or decrement.
** 2024 January 16, Kimber Streams, “The Best Gaming Mouse”, in Wirecutter‎:Compared with the excellent scroll wheels on the Basilisk V3 and G502 X, the G203’s scroll wheel feels less defined and mushier in its ratcheting.

##### Derived terms

* ratcheting toadlet
* ratchet up

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Possibly a variant (representing a Southern or specifically Louisianan pronunciation) of wretched. Compare rasslin' for wrestling.

#### Adjective

ratchet (comparative more ratchet, superlative most ratchet)
* (US, slang) Ghetto; unseemly, indecorous.
** 2013 September 24, Elspeth Reeve, Brian Moylan, “Miley Cyrus's Tongue: A Debate”, in The Atlantic:The one thing that always accompanies Miley's ratchet look (along with the gang signs) is the tongue, which is sort of like saying this persona that she has adopted is some sort of gonzo idiot who can't keep its tongue in her head.
** 2016 April 19, Julee Wilson, “Rihanna's Latest Sock Collection is Exactly What You'd Expect...and More”, in Essence:The feminine-meets-fiesty creations are right on par with all the reasons we love the rightgeously ratchet “Work” singer — and she knows it.
** 2018 March 28, Todrick Hall (lyrics and music), “T.H.U.G. (Trade)”, in Forbidden‎, track 14:Classy in the streets but we ratchet
** 2023 January 3, KWILLS, soc.culture.african.american‎ (Usenet):I love it when jaboons let their jibbering get them in 5 times as much trouble as they're already in. Let's see if this ratchet can keep her dick trap shut in court.

##### Derived terms

* ratchetness

### Further reading

* “ratchet”, in Collins English Dictionary.
* “ratchet”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “ratchet”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “ratchet”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

### Anagrams

* chatter, traceth