The difference between Rat and Tell on
When used as verbs, rat means to betray someone and tell their secret to an authority or an enemy, whereas tell on means to inform on, to rat out.
Rat is also noun with the meaning: a medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus rattus.
check bellow for the other definitions of Rat and Tell on
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Rat as a noun (zoology):
A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus.
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Rat as a noun (informal):
A term indiscriminately applied to numerous members of several rodent families (e.g. voles and mice) having bodies longer than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.
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Rat as a noun (informal):
A person who is known for betrayal; a scoundrel; a quisling.
Examples:
"What a rat, leaving us stranded here!"
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Rat as a noun (informal):
An informant or snitch.
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Rat as a noun (informal):
A scab: a worker who acts against trade union policies.
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Rat as a noun (slang):
A person who routinely spends time at a particular location.
Examples:
"Our teenager has become a mall rat."
"He loved hockey and was a devoted rink rat."
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Rat as a noun (UK, north-west, _, London, slang, vulgar):
Vagina.
Examples:
"Get your rat out."
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Rat as a noun:
A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.
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Rat as a verb (usually with “on” or “out”):
To betray someone and tell their secret to an authority or an enemy; to turn someone in, bewray.
Examples:
"He ratted on his coworker."
"He is going to rat us out!"
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Rat as a verb (of a dog, etc.):
To kill rats.
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Rat as a noun (regional):
A scratch or a score.
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Rat as a noun (nautical, regional):
A place in the sea with rapid currents and crags where a ship is likely to be torn apart in stormy weather.
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Rat as a verb (regional):
To scratch or score.
Examples:
"He ratted a vertical line on his face with a pocket knife."
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Rat as a verb (regional, rare, obsolete):
To tear, rip, rend.
Examples:
"'Ratted to shreds."
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Tell on as a verb (usually childish):
To inform on, to rat out; to tell a person in authority that someone else has done something wrong.
Examples:
"My sister told on me when I didn't go to school."
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Tell on as a verb:
To cause visible strain to.
Examples:
"Years of drinking started to tell on his body."