variants
or less commonly rachet
1
: a mechanism that consists of a bar or wheel having inclined teeth into which a pawl drops so that motion can be imparted to the wheel or bar, governed, or prevented and that is used in a hand tool (such as a wrench or screwdriver) to allow effective motion in one direction only
2
: a pawl or detent for holding or propelling a toothed wheel
variants
or less commonly rachet
ratcheted also racheted; ratcheting also racheting; ratchets also rachets
: to cause to move by steps or degrees
—usually used with up or down
tried to ratchet down the debt
: to proceed by steps or degrees
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Slang Meaning of Ratchet
Ratchet also means “trashy and disorderly, sometimes in a good way.” Learn more>
Examples of ratchet in a Sentence
Verb
news stories about the kidnapping will ratchet down as the weeks go by
Recent Examples on the Web
Michael Santoli, CNBC, 12 July 2025
The move, less than a month after Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed his state’s incentive package into law, further ratchets up the intensity of the border war over the two teams’ futures.
—Kansas City Star, 8 July 2025
Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 22 July 2025
Then governments, including the US government, used a mix of subsidies and regulations to ratchet up pressure for automakers to produce zero-emission cars.
—Aarian Marshall, Wired News, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ratchet
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Noun
With every orderly ratchet higher to a record high in the benchmark indexes, affirmed by a breakout in bitcoin as gold sleeps, a steep retreat in market volatility and a collapse in corporate-credit spreads, the investment universe is telling you to relax.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 12 July 2025
The move, less than a month after Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed his state’s incentive package into law, further ratchets up the intensity of the border war over the two teams’ futures.
—Kansas City Star, 8 July 2025
Verb
Trump in April had ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to an effective 145% blanket rate, as Beijing became the top target of the new U.S. administration's efforts to reframe the global trade landscape by wielding import duties against its economic partners.
—Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 22 July 2025
Then governments, including the US government, used a mix of subsidies and regulations to ratchet up pressure for automakers to produce zero-emission cars.
—Aarian Marshall, Wired News, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ratchet
Cite this Entry
“Ratchet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ratchet. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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