rat terrier
rat terrier noun: a dog breed, or set of breeds, with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion.
Noun
rat terrier (plural rat terriers)
- A dog breed, or set of breeds, with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion.
- In a few moments he returned and introduced an individual of about his own age, who seemed to be a cross between a rat terrier and a bull-dog, so exactly blended in his countenance and general appearance were the evidences of cunningness, activity and ferocious strength.1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 19
- Synonyms:
- ratter
Synonyms of rat terrier
Forms of rat terrier
| plural | rat terriers |
|---|
Origin of rat terrier
Named for its talent and avidity for flushing and catching rats. Useful to hunters of various game, useful to farms for pest control, and (like farm cats) inexpensive to keep because it can feed itself via its own hunting pasttime.
Questions about rat terrier
- What does rat terrier mean?
- Rat terrier means a dog breed, or set of breeds, with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion.
- What part of speech is rat terrier?
- Rat terrier is a noun.
- What is the plural of rat terrier?
- The plural of rat terrier is rat terriers.
Words near rat terrier in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rat terrier (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “rat terrier.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rat_terrier. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.