Definition of Ratchet

1. Noun. Mechanical device consisting of a toothed wheel or rack engaged with a pawl that permits it to move in only one direction.

Exact synonyms: Rachet, Ratch
Generic synonyms: Mechanical Device
Terms within: Click, Detent, Dog, Pawl, Ratchet Wheel
Group relationships: Ratchet Screwdriver, Spiral Ratchet Screwdriver

2. Verb. Move by degrees in one direction only. "A ratcheting lopping tool"
Exact synonyms: Rachet Up, Ratchet Down
Generic synonyms: Advance, Go On, March On, Move On, Pass On, Progress

Definition of Ratchet

1. n. A pawl, click, or detent, for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.

Definition of Ratchet

1. Noun. A pawl, click(,) or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc. ¹

2. Noun. A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch and pawl. ¹

3. Noun. A ratchet wrench. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive) To cause to become incremented or decremented. ¹

5. Verb. (intransitive) To increment or decrement. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Ratchet

1. to increase or decrease by small amounts [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Ratchet

1. 1. A pawl, click, or detent, for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc. 2. A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch, and pawl. See Ratchet wheel, below, and 2d Ratch. Ratchet brace, a circular wheel having teeth, usually angular, with which a reciprocating pawl engages to turn the wheel forward, or a stationary pawl to hold it from turning backward. In the cut, the moving pawl c slides over the teeth in one direction, but in returning, draws the wheel with it, while the pawl d prevents it from turning in the contrary direction. Origin: Properly a diminutive from the same word as rack: cf. F. Rochet. See Ratch, Rack the instrument. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Ratchet

ratatat
ratatats
ratatouille
ratatouilles
ratbag
ratbags
ratbite fever
ratbite fever bacterium
ratcastle
ratcatcher
ratcatchers
ratch
ratched
ratchel
ratches
ratchet (current term)
ratchet down
ratchet jack
ratchet screwdriver
ratchet up
ratchet wheel
ratchet wheels
ratchet wrench
ratchet wrenches
ratcheted
ratcheting
ratchetlike
ratchets
ratchety
ratching

Literary usage of Ratchet

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Scientific American Reference Book by Albert Allis Hopkins, Alexander Russell Bond (1913)
"The action of this ratchet mechanism is very similar to that shown in Fig. 86, except that the pawls are hooked and ratchet-wheel is rotated by an ..."

2. Scientific American Reference Book by Albert Allis Hopkins, Alexander Russell Bond (1913)
"The action of this ratchet mechanism is very similar to that shown in Tig. Sii, except that the pawls arc hooked and ratchet-wheel is rotated by an ..."

3. Mechanism by Robert McArdle Keown (1912)
"CHAPTER XI INTERMITTENT MOTIONS ratchet GEARING 152. ratchet Gearing.—This is perhaps the most common form of intermittent motion and consists of two ..."

4. Mechanism by Robert McArdle Keown (1912)
"ratchet Gearing.—This is perhaps the most common form of intermittent motion and consists of two principal parts, the ratchet wheel and pawl or detent. ..."

5. Applied Mechanics: An Elementary General Introduction to the Theory of by James Henry Cotterill (1890)
"is a double acting ratchet mechanism in which the two chains have all the links common ... The ratchet wheel then moves continuously in one direction, ..."

6. Appletons' Cyclopædia of Applied Mechanics: A Dictionary of Mechanical by Appleton, firm, publishers, New York (1880)
"3667, A' represents the ratchet-wheel furnished with teeth shaped like those of a saw ; and А B, the driver, is a click or paúl, jointed at one end A to a ..."

7. Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge by Charles Knight (1838)
"If the power be again applied to wind up the watch, the main-spring, during the time that power is applied, ceases to act on the auxiliary-ratchet, ..."

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