1 N‑COUNT A Rastafarian is a member of a Jamaican religious group which considers Haile Selassie, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, to be God. Rastafarians often have long hair which they wear in a hairstyle called dreadlocks. □ He was one of the few thousand committed Rastafarians in South Africa.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Rastafarian is used to describe Rastafarians and their beliefs and lifestyle. □ …Rastafarian poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
rat /ræ t/ (rats , ratting , ratted )
1 N‑COUNT A rat is an animal which has a long tail and looks like a large mouse. □ This was demonstrated in a laboratory experiment with rats.
2 N‑COUNT If you call someone a rat , you mean that you are angry with them or dislike them, often because they have cheated you or betrayed you. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ What did you do with the gun you took from that little rat Turner?
3 VERB If someone rats on you, they tell someone in authority about things that you have done, especially bad things. [INFORMAL ] □ [V + on ] They were accused of encouraging children to rat on their parents.
4 VERB If someone rats on an agreement, they do not do what they said they would do. [INFORMAL ] □ [V + on ] She claims he ratted on their deal.
5 PHRASE If you smell a rat , you begin to suspect or realize that something is wrong in a particular situation, for example that someone is trying to deceive you or harm you. □ If I don't send a picture, he will smell a rat.
ra|ta /rɑː tə/ → see pro rata
ra t-a-tat N‑SING ; N‑COUNT You use rat-a-tat to represent a series of sharp, repeated sounds, for example the sound of someone knocking at a door. □ …the rat-a-tat at the door.
ra|ta|touille /ræ tətuː i/ N‑UNCOUNT Ratatouille is a cooked dish made with vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, aubergines, courgettes, and peppers.
rat|bag /ræ tbæg/ (ratbags ) N‑COUNT If you call someone a ratbag , you are insulting them. [BRIT , INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ Lying ratbags, that's what they are.
ratch|et /ræ tʃ I t/ (ratchets , ratcheting , ratcheted )
1 N‑COUNT In a tool or machine, a ratchet is a wheel or bar with sloping teeth, which can move only in one direction, because a piece of metal stops the teeth from moving backwards. □ The chair has a ratchet below it to adjust the height.
2 VERB If a tool or machine ratchets or if you ratchet it, it makes a clicking noise as it operates, because it has a ratchet in it. □ [V ] The rod bent double, the reel shrieked and ratcheted. □ [V n] She took up a sheet and ratcheted it into the typewriter.
3 N‑SING If you describe a situation as a ratchet , you mean that it is bad and can only become worse. [mainly BRIT ] □ …another raising of the ratchet of violence in the conflict.
▸ ratchet down PHRASAL VERB If something ratchets down or is ratcheted down , it decreases by a fixed amount or degree, and seems unlikely to increase again. [mainly JOURNALISM ] □ [V P n] We're trying to ratchet down the administrative costs. [Also V n P ]
▸ ratchet up PHRASAL VERB If something ratchets up or is ratcheted up , it increases by a fixed amount or degree, and seems unlikely to decrease again. [JOURNALISM ] □ [V P n] …an attempt to ratchet up the pressure. □ [V P ] He fears inflation will ratchet up as the year ends.
rate ◆◆◆ /re I t/ (rates , rating , rated )
1 N‑COUNT The rate at which something happens is the speed with which it happens. □ The rate at which hair grows can be agonisingly slow. □ The world's tropical forests are disappearing at an even faster rate than experts had thought.
2 N‑COUNT The rate at which something happens is the number of times it happens over a period of time or in a particular group. □ [+ of ] New diet books appear at a rate of nearly one a week. □ His heart rate was 30 beats per minute slower.
3 N‑COUNT A rate is the amount of money that is charged for goods or services. □ Calls cost 36p per minute cheap rate and 48p at all other times. □ …specially reduced rates for travellers using Gatwick Airport.
4 → see also exchange rate
5 N‑COUNT The rate of taxation or interest is the amount of tax or interest that needs to be paid. It is expressed as a percentage of the amount that is earned, gained as profit, or borrowed. [BUSINESS ] □ The government insisted that it would not be panicked into interest rate cuts.
6 VERB [no cont] If you rate someone or something as good or bad, you consider them to be good or bad. You can also say that someone or something rates as good or bad. □ [V n adj] Of all the men in the survey, they rate themselves the most responsible. □ [V n n] Most rated it a hit. □ [V n + as ] We rate him as one of the best. □ [V n adv] She rated the course highly. □ [V adv prep] Reading books does not rate highly among Britons as a leisure activity. □ [V -ed] …the most highly rated player in English football.
7 VERB If you rate someone or something, you think that they are good. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n] It's flattering to know that other clubs have shown interest and seem to rate me.
8 V-PASSIVE [no cont] If someone or something is rated at a particular position or rank, they are calculated or considered to be in that position on a list. □ [be V -ed n] He is generally rated Italy's No. 3 industrialist. □ [be V -ed ord] He came here rated 100th on the tennis computer.
9 VERB [no cont] If you say that someone or something rates a particular reaction, you mean that this is the reaction you consider to be appropriate. □ [V n] Their national golf championship barely rated a mention.