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ratchet 1, noun(dictionary)
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ratchet (iou)



ratchet noun & verb. Also (earlier) rochet. M17.
[French rochet (orig.) blunt lancehead, (later) bobbin, spool, ratchet (wheel), corresp. to or partly from Italian rocchetto spool, ratchet, dim. from Proto-Romance, rel. to base of ROCK noun2. Later assim. to synon. RATCH noun1.]
A. noun.
sing. & (rare) in pl. A set of angled teeth on the edge of a bar or wheel in which a device (as a cog, tooth, etc.) engages to prevent reversed motion. Freq. attrib. M17.
ratchet effect an effect by which a process, policy, cost, etc., continues or increases without any compensatory movement in the opposite direction, so that it comes to be perceived as irreversible.
A bar or wheel (more fully ratchet-wheel) provided with such teeth. E18.
A click or detent engaging in the ratchet of a wheel. M19.
In full ratchet-knife. A type of knife with a curved blade. W. Indies. L20.
b. verb.
verb trans. Provide with a ratchet; make into a ratchet. L19.
verb intrans. & trans. Move (as) by means of a ratchet. L19.
Daily Telegraph The union movement has not been responsible for ratcheting up inflation.
ratchety adjective resembling the movement of a ratchet, jerky M19.