rat

rat

any of numerous long-tailed murine rodents, esp of the genus Rattus, that are similar to but larger than mice and are now distributed all over the world

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Rat

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

The Rat is one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. It refers to one of the 12 earthly branches, which are used in Chinese astrology, together with the 10 heavenly stems. Such a branch designates one day every 12 days: the days are named according to a sexagesimal (60) cycle, made of 10 series of 12 branches.

A Rat is jovial (perhaps too much), pleasant, and sociable; with a sense of justice, the Rat tends to want to convince others. On the negative side, he is suspicious, crafty, and may hold grudges if people are disrespectful to him. With a keen interest in everything, he is hardworking, ambitious, and conscientious. He loves money: he knows how to win it, and above all, he knows how to keep it, even if he is generous with those close to him. Easy to get along with, he is persuasive and a successful businessman. Not really faithful, he is nevertheless eager for tenderness.

—Michele Delemme

The Astrology Book, Second Edition © 2003 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

What does it mean when you dream about a rat?

Rats are often associated with the decaying conditions of poverty (“rat trap”) or illness. To betray someone is to “rat” on them. Dreams of rats can also indicate a need to take some time out from the “rat race.” (See also Mouse, Rodent).

The Dream Encyclopedia, Second Edition © 2009 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

rat

[rat]

(vertebrate zoology)

The name applied to over 650 species of mammals in several families of the order Rodentia; they differ from mice in being larger and in having teeth modified for gnawing.

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RAT

[rat]

(ordnance)

rocket-assisted torpedo

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

RAT

(1) (Radio Access Technology) See Multi RAT.

(2) (Remote Access Trojan) Software in a user's machine that is interactively controlled by an attacker. Having full administrator rights, the attacker can perform any operation in the computer remotely and direct the RAT in the infected machine just like a user with a Web browser requests data from a server. The Cult of the Dead hackers created the classic RAT (see Back Orifice). See Trojan.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

Rats

(dreams)

They are unpleasant and symbolize danger, poverty, filth, and illness. Your unconscious mind may be bringing up unpleasant images due to a disturbance in daily life. The dream’s purpose is to make you aware of negative feelings that may encourage you to directly deal with the negativity in your life. Dreaming about rats leaves the dreamer feeling apprehensive and disgusted. Attempt to connect these feelings with those things that produce this type of anxiety during the day.

Bedside Dream Dictionary by Silvana Amar Copyright © 2007 by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.