Explore common English expressions featuring rats. Discover their meanings and see them used in sentences.
Rat Idioms
1. Smell a rat
Meaning: Suspect something is wrong.
Example: He smelled a rat when she hesitated.
2. Rat race
Meaning: Competitive, stressful routine.
Example: I’m tired of this endless rat race.
3. Like a rat up a drainpipe
Meaning: Move very quickly.
Example: He shot off like a rat up a drainpipe.
4. Rat out
Meaning: Betray or inform on someone.
Example: He ratted out his friends to save himself.
5. Rats desert a sinking ship
Meaning: People leave a failing enterprise.
Example: When profits plunged, the managers left quickly.
6. Rat on someone
Meaning: Betray someone’s trust.
Example: She ratted on me and I got fired.
7. Pack rat
Meaning: Someone who hoards items.
Example: He’s a pack rat with old newspapers.
8. As quiet as a mouse
Meaning: Very quiet, hardly noticeable.
Example: She sat as quiet as a mouse.
9. Rat’s nest
Meaning: A messy, disorganized place.
Example: His room was a complete rat’s nest.
10. Drain the rat
Meaning: Vulgar slang for urinate.
Example: He went outside to drain the rat.
11. Lab rat
Meaning: Someone used in experiments.
Example: We felt like lab rats in that study.
12. I smell a rat
Meaning: Suspect deception or foul play.
Example: She left abruptly; I smell a rat.
13. Ratbag
Meaning: A despicable or unpleasant person.
Example: That guy is a real ratbag.
14. Desert rat
Meaning: Someone who lives in arid regions.
Example: He’s become a true desert rat.
15. Rat’s tail
Meaning: Something long, thin, and tapering.
Example: He wore his hair in a rat’s tail.
16. To rat on the agreement
Meaning: To back out of a deal.
Example: He threatened to rat on the agreement.
17. King rat
Meaning: The dominant person in a group.
Example: He’s the king rat of their gang.
18. To have a rat’s chance
Meaning: Have little to no chance of success.
Example: He has a rat’s chance in this contest.
19. Rats from a sinking ship
Meaning: People abandoning something failing.
Example: Employees fled like rats from a sinking ship.
20. Like rats in a trap
Meaning: Stuck with no escape.
Example: They were caught like rats in a trap.
Related: 20 Horse Idioms in English
