ratchet
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ratchet/ˈratʃɪt/
▶noun 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. ▶verb (ratchets, ratcheting, ratcheted)
- 1 operate by means of a ratchet.
- 2 (ratchet something up/down) cause something to rise (or fall) as a step in an irreversible process.
– origin C17: from Fr. rochet, orig. denoting a blunt lance head, later in the sense ‘bobbin, ratchet’.
'ratchet' also found in these Oxford entries:
