Definitions for ratchets

• Definition
• Anagrams (416)

ratchets ratch·et

Spelling: [rach-it]

IPA: /ˈrætʃ ɪt/

Ratchets is a 8 letter English word. It's valid Words with friends word worth 18 points.

You can make 416 anagrams from letters in ratchets (acehrstt).

Definitions for ratchets

noun

1. a toothed bar with which a pawl engages.
2. (not in technical use) a pawl or the like used with a ratchet or ratchet wheel.
3. a mechanism consisting of such a bar or wheel with the pawl.
4. ratchet wheel.
5. a steady progression up or down:

verb (used with or without object)

1. to move by degrees (often followed by up or down):

Origin of ratchets

1650-60; alteration of French rochet; Middle French rocquet a blunt lance-head Germanic

Examples for ratchets

Score one for Newt, who basically pressured Romney into putting out the returns by ratcheting up the pressure.

Even while ratcheting up his rhetoric against the GOP, Obama also engaged in a bit of Clintonian triangulation.

The algorithm is forever ratcheting up spending and ratcheting down revenues.

In response to rising demand for durable goods like autos, companies have been ratcheting up production.

How do peaceful, non-antagonistic peoples prevent certain individuals from ratcheting up rage and creating divisive groups?

In going public, the White House is ratcheting up the pressure on Islamabad.

Khrushchev said he would remove them “in due course,” but did he need some prodding by ratcheting up the blockade?

You can ratchet down sanctions, but ratcheting down war is sometimes out of your hands.

Chopper crashes killed 14 Americans in Afghanistan on Monday, ratcheting up pressure on Obama to decide on a surge.

Sensing the turning tide, the admin is ratcheting up the rhetoric.