Sekirov Dictionary

ratchet

/ˈɹæt͡ʃɪt/

noun 8
verb 2
adjective 1
forms 5
phrases 1

noun8

A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch and pawl.
A procedure or regulation that goes in one direction, usually up.
Ellipsis of full ratchet.
A ratchet wrench.
•
(slang, offensive) A person, usually a female, who acts or behaves in a ghetto, unseemly, or indecorous way or manner.
- 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. — 2023
A pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.
•
A noisemaker or musical instrument where sound is generated by a board striking against a rotating gear.
- 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. — 2013
A mechanism for generating a new unique key for each message by moving forward in a sequence.

verb2

•
To increment or decrement; especially, to offer controlled motion that can increment while resisting decrement, or vice versa.
- This holddown ratchets, which allows the person loading the trailer to cinch down the straps.
•
To cause (something) to become incremented or decremented.
- Get this holddown into position, but don't start ratcheting it yet. When I say go, you start ratcheting it, OK?
- It's time to ratchet up the intensity level here.

adjective1

•
(slang, offensive) Ghetto; unseemly, indecorous.
- The feminine-meets-fiesty creations are right on par with all the reasons we love the rightgeously^([sic]) ratchet “Work” singer — and she knows it. — 2016

forms

ratcheted · ratcheting · ratchets · more ratchet · most ratchet

Phrases with ratchet

ratchet up
To increase; especially, to increase by degrees in a way that only gets worse, never experiencing any reprieves.

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