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Rat vs Hen - What's the difference?

rat | hen |

As an adjective rat

is .

rat

English

(wikipedia rat)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (zoology) A medium-sized rodent belonging to the genus Rattus .
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Charles T. Ambrose
  • , title= Alzheimer’s Disease , volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
  • (informal) A term indiscriminately applied to numerous members of several rodent families (e.g. voles and mice) having bodies longer than about 12 cm, or 5 inches.
  • (informal) A person who is known for betrayal; a scoundrel; a quisling.
  • * 1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
  • He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here house.
  • (informal) An informant or snitch.
  • (slang) A person who routinely spends time at a particular location.
  • Scab.
  • Vagina.
  • A wad of shed hair used as part of a hairstyle.
  • Synonyms
    * (person known for betrayal) traitor (see for more synonyms ) * (informer) stool pigeon
    Derived terms
    * black rat * brown rat * desert rat * give a rat's ass * * like rats from a sinking ship * love rat * mall rat * ratface * ratfink * ratter * rat race * rattail * ratty * rat's nest * rat-trap * ring rat * smell a rat * gym rat
    See also
    * mouse * rodent

    Verb

    (ratt)
  • To betray someone and tell their secret to an authority or an enemy; to turn someone in, bewray.
  • He ratted on his coworker.
    He is going to rat us out!
  • To kill rats.
  • Synonyms
    * (to betray someone to an authority) tell on, to finger or "put the finger on", bewray

    Anagrams

    * ----

    hen

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) henne, heonne, hinne, from earlier henene, heonenen, henen, from (etyl) heonan, hionan, heonane, . See also (l).

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (dialectal) Hence.
  • Etymology 2

    From , or a variant of hench.

    Verb

    (henn)
  • (dialectal) To throw.
  • Etymology 3

    From (etyl), from (etyl) henn, .

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A female bird.
  • (specifically ) A female chicken, especially one kept for its eggs.
  • * , title=The Mirror and the Lamp
  • , chapter=2 citation , passage=She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen , the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.}}
  • (slang) A woman.
  • (informal) The woman whose impending marriage is being celebrated at a hen night.
  • Derived terms
    * henbane * hen harrier * hen party * henpecked * mother hen
    See also
    * * broody

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----