rat

«rat» in Mova's school dictionary: A rodent like a large mouse, with a long thin tail, sharp… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a rat, rats); verb (rat on — informal, rats, ratted, ratting); interjection (Rats! — informal)

meaning for a pupil

1) A rodent like a large mouse, with a long thin tail, sharp teeth and grey or brown fur. tree →

2) (informal) A nasty, mean or disloyal person. tree →

3) Rat on someone (informal): tell on someone. tree →

4) Rats!: a mild word said when something goes wrong. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, rats are mammals and rodents; they are clever and can learn mazes, and some are pets (fancy rats). In health and safety lessons: wild rats can carry germs and diseases, so don't touch them, keep food covered and bins closed; wash hands after handling pets. In history, fleas on rats spread the plague. In stories rats can be villains (the Pied Piper) or clever friends. Phrases: smell a rat (suspect a trick), like a drowned rat (soaking wet), rat race, pet rat.

examples

• A rat ran across the alley. tree →
• My friend has two pet rats called Salt and Pepper. tree →
• Keep the bin lid closed so rats can't get in. tree →
• Don't touch wild rats — they can carry disease. tree →
• Rats can learn their way through a maze. tree →
• I came home from the rain looking like a drowned rat. tree →
• «Rats! I forgot my homework.» tree →
• The story's detective smelled a rat. tree →

note

Countable: a rat, rats. Rats are bigger than mice and have thicker tails. Don't confuse with «rate». «Smell a rat» means to think something is a trick.

In the corpora

• Stories grow as they travel: one mouse in the kitchen becomes "the school's closing because of rats".
• Meerkats are a kind of mongoose, not a kind of rat or squirrel.
• Real farm cats are useful mousers that keep mice and rats away from barns full of grain.
• The moonrat smells strongly of garlic or onion, and despite its name it is not a rat but a cousin of the hedgehog.
• Real cats do hunt mice, but many well-fed house cats are lazy hunters, and some are even scared of rats.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «rat» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.