n.
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.
v.
(ratchets, ratcheting, ratcheted)
- operate by means of a ratchet.
-
(ratchet something up/down)
cause something to rise (or fall) as a step in an irreversible process.
Etymology
C17: from Fr. rochet, orig. denoting a blunt lance head, later in the sense ‘bobbin, ratchet’.
