How to use ratchet in a sentence

15 example sentences · noun, verb, adjective

Ratchet means a pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc. Example: “This holddown ratchets, which allows the person loading the trailer to cinch down the straps.”

Examples of ratchet by meaning

nounA procedure or regulation that goes in one direction, usually up.

Each one in turn clicks up the ratchet of surveillance, intrusion and security.2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 2, page 23

nounA noisemaker or musical instrument where sound is generated by a board striking against a rotating gear.

Ahead of them a group of mandibulous sales men had set up their combustion cups and incendiary ratchets to demonstrate their wares to whatever officers might come by.2013, Charles Morgan, Youthful Folly, →ISBN, page 94

verbTo increment or decrement; especially, to offer controlled motion that can increment while resisting decrement, or vice...

This holddown ratchets, which allows the person loading the trailer to cinch down the straps.
Compared with the excellent scroll wheels on the Basilisk V3 and G502 X, the G203’s scroll wheel feels less defined and mushier in its ratcheting.2024 January 16, Kimber Streams, “The Best Gaming Mouse”, in Wirecutter

verbTo cause (something) to become incremented or decremented.

Get this holddown into position, but don't start ratcheting it yet. When I say go, you start ratcheting it, OK?
It's time to ratchet up the intensity level here.
Yugoslavia’s President, Slobodan Milosevic, has rejected all efforts at meaningful diplomacy and, in violation of his own previous commitments, has ratcheted up his military campaign against the innocent civilians of Kosovo.1999 March 25, “Air Campaign Against Yugoslavia”, in The New York Times, New York

More sentences with ratchet

The whole gang started striding toward the line, and I forgot I had a ratchet on me.2020 May 12, Deshawn Rankin, “Hanging Out”, in Dirty Hearts, Conneaut Lake, Pa.: Page Publishing, →ISBN. From the entry glizzy
Out of the three of us, she was the loudest and the most ratchet.2020, A. L. Tate, I'll Give It All For Your Love, page 146. From the entry boughetto
Harsh ratcheting sounds came from outside the SUV, penetrating the constant feed from the military band radio.2013, Mel Odom, Renegade, Tyndale, →ISBN, page 162. From the entry militaryspeak
As I took the satiny-furred cat into my arms, his purring ratcheted up a couple of notches.2012, Marion Arnott, “Another One in from the Cold”, in Marie O'Regan, editor, The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women, Constable &…. From the entry furbaby
Elly had ratcheted up the pressure with her threats of leaving early.2003, Robert C. Hereth, Money, Xlibris Corp., →ISBN, page 192. From the entry bird in the hand
As a protorap song, Dylan's rant ratchets uncannily with the track, the words frequently dissolving into the beat.2012, David Dalton, Who Is That Man? In Search of the Real Bob Dylan, →ISBN. From the entry protorap
Only the ratchet approach can adequately model the spurtive irregularity.2002, Raj Kumar Sen, Biswajit Chatterjee, Indian Economy, Agenda for the 21st Century, page 311. From the entry spurtive
The ratchet photocurrent includes the Seebeck thermoratchet effect as well as the effects of "linear" and "circular" ratchets, sensitive to the corresponding polarization of the driving electromagnetic force.2015, P. Olbrich, J. Kamann, M. König, J. Munzert, L. Tutsch, J. Eroms, D.Weiss, Ming-Hao Liu, L.E. Golub, E.L. Ivchenko, V.V.Popov, D.V.…. From the entry thermoratchet

Meaning of ratchet

noun A pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.
noun A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch and pawl.
noun A ratchet wrench.

Full definition of ratchet

Questions about ratchet in a sentence

How do you use ratchet in a sentence?: Ratchet is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “This holddown ratchets, which allows the person loading the trailer to cinch down the straps.”
What is a short sentence with ratchet?: “It's time to ratchet up the intensity level here.”
What does ratchet mean?: Ratchet means a pawl, click, or detent for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ratchet (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use ratchet in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ratchet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.