|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
ratchet
ratch·et / ˈrachit/ • n. a device consisting of a bar or wheel with a set of angled teeth in which a pawl, cog, or tooth engages, allowing motion in one direction only. ∎ a bar or wheel that has such a set of teeth. ∎ fig. a situation or process that is perceived to be deteriorating or changing steadily in a series of irreversible steps: the best way to reverse the ratchet of socialism. • v. (ratch·et·ed , ratch·et·ing ) [tr.] operate by means of a ratchet. ∎ (ratchet something up/down) fig. cause something to rise (or fall) as a step in what is perceived as a steady and irreversible process: the Bank of Japan ratcheted up interest rates again. ∎ [intr.] make a sound like a ratchet. |
|
|
Cite this article
"ratchet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ratchet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-ratchet.html "ratchet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-ratchet.html |
|
ratchet
ratchet (Ger. Ratsche). Rattle. Percussion instr. of indefinite pitch. A cogwheel is either revolved by means of a handle against one or several tongues of wood or metal, or twirled so that the tongues strike the cogs. Is used by Strauss in Till Eulenspiegel, Ravel in his orch. of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Walton in his Façade ballet suite No.1. But of course any instr. producing a rattling noise, such as pebbles shaken in a dried gourd, is a rattle.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "ratchet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "ratchet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-ratchet.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "ratchet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-ratchet.html |
|
ratchet and pawl
ratchet and pawl mechanical device that permits motion in one direction only. The ratchet is usually a wheel with slanting teeth. The pawl is a lever tangential to the wheel with one end resting on the teeth. When the wheel rotates one way, the pawl slides over the teeth; when the wheel rotates the other way, the pawl catches in the teeth. |
|
|
Cite this article
"ratchet and pawl." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ratchet and pawl." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ratchetN.html "ratchet and pawl." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ratchetN.html |
|
pawl
pawl / pôl/ • n. a pivoted curved bar or lever whose free end engages with the teeth of a cogwheel or ratchet so that the wheel or ratchet can only turn or move one way. ∎ each of a set of short stout bars that engage with the whelps and prevent a capstan, windlass, or winch from recoiling. |
|
|
Cite this article
"pawl." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "pawl." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-pawl.html "pawl." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-pawl.html |
|
ratchet
ratchet XVII (rochet) — F. rochet (in OF.) blunt lance-head, (later) bobbin, spool, ratchet (wheel), corr. to or partly — It. rocchetto spool, ratchet, dim. f. Rom. *rokk-. Later assim. to ratch distaff (XVIII), which may depend upon G. ratsche.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "ratchet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "ratchet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ratchet.html T. F. HOAD. "ratchet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ratchet.html |
|
pawl
pawl (naut.) bar to prevent a capstan, etc. from recoiling. XVII. poss. — LG., Du. pal rel. to adj. pal immobile, fixed, of unkn. orig.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "pawl." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "pawl." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-pawl.html T. F. HOAD. "pawl." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-pawl.html |
|
pawl
pawl see ratchet and pawl . |
|
|
Cite this article
"pawl." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "pawl." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-pawl.html "pawl." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-pawl.html |
|
pawl
pawl •all, appal (US appall), awl, Bacall, ball, bawl, befall, Bengal, brawl, call, caul, crawl, Donegal, drawl, drywall, enthral (US enthrall), fall, forestall, gall, Galle, Gaul, hall, haul, maul, miaul, miscall, Montreal, Naipaul, Nepal, orle, pall, Paul, pawl, Saul, schorl, scrawl, seawall, Senegal, shawl, small, sprawl, squall, stall, stonewall, tall, thrall, trawl, wall, waul, wherewithal, withal, yawl
•carryall • blackball • handball
•patball • hardball • netball • baseball
•paintball • speedball • heelball
•meatball • stickball • pinball • spitball
•racquetball • basketball • volleyball
•eyeball, highball
•oddball • softball • mothball
•korfball • cornball
•lowball, no-ball, snowball
•goalball
•cueball, screwball
•goofball • stoolball • football
•puffball • punchball • fireball
•rollerball • cannonball • butterball
•catchall • bradawl • holdall • Goodall
|
|
|
Cite this article
"pawl." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "pawl." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-pawl.html "pawl." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-pawl.html |
|
ratchet
ratchet •acquit, admit, backlit, bedsit, befit, bit, Brit, Britt, chit, commit, demit, dit, emit, fit, flit, frit, git, grit, hit, intermit, it, kit, knit, legit, lickety-split, lit, manumit, mishit, mitt, nit, omit, outsit, outwit, permit, pit, Pitt, pretermit, quit, remit, retrofit, shit, sit, skit, slit, snit, spit, split, sprit, squit, submit, tit, transmit, twit, whit, wit, writ, zit
•albeit, howbeit
•poet
•bluet, cruet, intuit, suet, Yuit
•Inuit • floruit • Jesuit
•Babbitt, cohabit, habit, rabbet, rabbit
•ambit, gambit
•jackrabbit • barbet • Nesbit • rarebit
•adhibit, exhibit, gibbet, inhibit, prohibit
•titbit (US tidbit) • flibbertigibbet
•Cobbett, gobbet, hobbit, obit, probit
•orbit • Tobit
•cubit, two-bit
•hatchet, latchet, ratchet
•Pritchett
•crotchet, rochet
|
|
|
Cite this article
"ratchet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ratchet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-ratchet.html "ratchet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-ratchet.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
