What does rattery mean?
A rattery is, literally, a place where rats live, breed, or gather in large numbers. The word can also denote a crowded, dirty, or decrepit building or district that resembles such a place, though this figurative use is chiefly British and often carries a strongly derogatory, historical connotation. The sense of a group or colony of rats is also recorded, though it is less common than the two place-related meanings. Because the word is vivid and relatively unusual, it is most often encountered in literary, regional, or descriptive contexts rather than everyday neutral speech. Its principal interest lies in the way a literal reference to a rat-infested place developed into a broader social description of urban decay and overcrowding.
nounA place where rats live or breed, especially a place infested with rats. By extension, it can refer to a crowded, dirty, or decrepit place likened to a rat habitat.
- A place inhabited or infested by rats.
- A crowded, dirty, or decrepit place likened to a rat habitat.
- A collection or colony of rats.
"The abandoned warehouse had become a rattery, its corridors crawling with rodents."
"The old tenement was known locally as a rattery because of the rats that filled its basements."
"Cattle waste had turned the enclosure into a noisy rattery."
The plural is used when referring to multiple rat-infested or overcrowded places.
"The survey documented several ratteries across the abandoned district."
A rattery began as a literal home for rats, but the word grew vivid enough to describe any cramped, filthy place that seems infested.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of rattery
The word was formed in English by adding the suffix “-ery” to “rat,” producing a term for a place occupied by rats. The suffix is also used in words such as “bakery” and “brewery,” where it indicates a place associated with a particular person, process, or material. The figurative sense developed from the literal meaning by comparing crowded, insanitary human living conditions with a place infested by rats.
How rattery is actually used
The figurative sense is chiefly British and often derogatory or historical, especially when applied to an overcrowded working-class district. In modern usage, the literal sense is relatively uncommon.
Easily confused with rattery
A rattery is a place inhabited by rats, whereas a rattler is an individual rat or a device that makes a rattling sound.