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Rathripe

Rareripe, or early ripe. A rareripe.

Rathskeller

Orig., in Germany, the cellar or basement of the city hall, usually rented for use as a restaurant where beer is sold; hence, a beer saloon of the German type below the street level, where, usually, drinks are served only at tables and simple food may also be had; -- sometimes loosely used, in English, of what are essentially basement restaurants where liquors are served.

Ratification

The act of ratifying; the state of being ratified; confirmation; sanction; as, the ratification of a treaty.

Ratifier

One who, or that which, ratifies; a confirmer.

Ratify

To approve and sanction; to make valid; to confirm; to establish; to settle; especially, to give sanction to, as something done by an agent or servant; as, to ratify an agreement, treaty, or contract; to ratify a nomination.

Ratihabition

Confirmation or approbation, as of an act or contract.

Ratio

The relation which one quantity or magnitude has to another of the same kind. It is expressed by the quotient of the division of the first by the second; thus, the ratio of 3 to 6 is expressed by / or /; of a to b by a/b; or (less commonly) the second term is made the dividend; as, a:b = b/a.

Ratiocinate

To reason, esp. deductively; to offer reason or argument.

Ratiocination

The process of reasoning, or deducing conclusions from premises; deductive reasoning.

Ratiocinative

Characterized by, or addicted to, ratiocination; consisting in the comparison of propositions or facts, and the deduction of inferences from the comparison; argumentative; as, a ratiocinative process.

Ration

To supply with rations, as a regiment.

Rationale

An explanation or exposition of the principles of some opinion, action, hypothesis, phenomenon, or the like; also, the principles themselves.

Rationalism

The doctrine or system of those who deduce their religious opinions from reason or the understanding, as distinct from, or opposed to, revelation.

Rationalist

One who accepts rationalism as a theory or system; also, disparagingly, a false reasoner. See Citation under Reasonist.

Rationality

The quality or state of being rational; agreement with reason; possession of reason; due exercise of reason; reasonableness.

Rationalize

To use, and rely on, reason in forming a theory, belief, etc., especially in matters of religion: to accord with the principles of rationalism.

Rationalness

The quality or state of being rational; rationality.

Ratitae

An order of birds in which the wings are small, rudimentary, or absent, and the breastbone is destitute of a keel. The ostrich, emu, moa, and apteryx are examples.

Ratitate

Of or pertaining to the Ratitae.

Ratite

Of or pertaining to the Ratitae. One of the Ratitae.

Ratlins Ratlines

The small transverse ropes attached to the shrouds and forming the steps of a rope ladder.

Rattan

One of the long slender flexible stems of several species of palms of the genus Calamus, mostly East Indian, though some are African and Australian. They are exceedingly tough, and are used for walking sticks, wickerwork, chairs and seats of chairs, cords and cordage, and many other purposes.

Ratteen

A thick woolen stuff quilled or twilled.

Ratten

To deprive feloniously of the tools used in one's employment (as by breaking or stealing them), for the purpose of annoying; as, to ratten a mechanic who works during a strike.

Ratter

One who, or that which, rats, as one who deserts his party.

Rattinet

A woolen stuff thinner than ratteen.

Ratting

The conduct or practices of one who rats. See Rat, v. i., 1.

Rattle

A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum.

Rattlebox

A toy that makes a rattling sound; a rattle.

Rattler

One who, or that which, rattles.

Rattlesnake

Any one of several species of venomous American snakes belonging to the genera Crotalus and Caudisona, or Sistrurus; sometimes also called rattler. They have a series of horny interlocking joints at the end of the tail which make a sharp rattling sound when shaken. The common rattlesnake of the Northern United States (Crotalus horridus), and the diamondback rattlesnake (also called diamondback rattler, and diamondback) of the South and East (Crotalus adamanteus) and West (Crotalus atrox), are the best known. See Illust. of Fang.

Rattletrap

Any machine or vehicle that does not run smoothly.

Rattleweed

Any plant of the genus Astragalus. See Milk vetch.

Rattoon

To sprout or spring up from the root, as sugar cane from the root of the previous year's planting.

Raucity

Harshness of sound; rough utterance; hoarseness; as, the raucity of a trumpet, or of the human voice.

Raucous

Hoarse; harsh; rough; as, a raucous, thick tone.

Ravage

To lay waste by force; to desolate by violence; to commit havoc or devastation upon; to spoil; to plunder; to consume.

Ravager

One who, or that which, ravages or lays waste; spoiler.

Rave

An instance of raving.

Ravehook

A tool, hooked at the end, for enlarging or clearing seams for the reception of oakum.

Ravel

To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy.

Ravelin

A detached work with two embankments which make a salient angle. It is raised before the curtain on the counterscarp of the place. Formerly called demilune and half-moon.

Raveling

The act of untwisting or of disentangling.

Raven

To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity.

Ravenala

A genus of plants related to the banana.

Ravener

One who, or that which, ravens or plunders.

Ravening

Greedily devouring; rapacious; as, ravening wolves.

Ravenous

Devouring with rapacious eagerness; furiously voracious; hungry even to rage; as, a ravenous wolf or vulture.

Raving

Talking irrationally and wildly; as, a raving lunatic.

Ravish

To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.

Ravisher

One who ravishes (in any sense).

Ravissant

In a half-raised position, as if about to spring on prey.

Raw

A raw, sore, or galled place; a sensitive spot; as, to touch one on the raw.

Rawboned

Having little flesh on the bones; gaunt.

Rawhead

A specter mentioned to frighten children; as, rawhead and bloodybones.

Rawhide

A cowhide, or coarse riding whip, made of untanned (or raw) hide twisted.

Rawly

In a raw manner; unskillfully; without experience.

Rawness

The quality or state of being raw.

Ray

Any one of numerous elasmobranch fishes of the order Raiae, including the skates, torpedoes, sawfishes, etc. In a restricted sense, any of the broad, flat, narrow-tailed species, as the skates and sting rays. See Skate.

Rayah

A person not a Mohammedan, who pays the capitation tax.

Rayless

Destitute of rays; hence, dark; not illuminated; blind; as, a rayless sky; rayless eyes.

Rayon

A synthetic fiber, made of thin filaments of regenerated cellulose, extruded from a solution of viscose. Called also viscose fiber and viscose rayon fiber.

Rayonnant

Darting forth rays, as the sun when it shines out.

Raze

To erase; to efface; to obliterate.

Razed

Slashed or striped in patterns.

Razee

To cut down to a less number of decks, and thus to an inferior rate or class, as a ship; hence, to prune or abridge by cutting off or retrenching parts; as, to razee a book, or an article.

Razor

A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or the head; also called a straight razor.

Razor-backed

Having a sharp, lean, or thin back; as, a razor-backed hog, perch, etc.

razor-edged

having an edge as sharp as that of a razor; very sharp.

Razorable

Ready for the razor; fit to be shaved.

Razorbill

A species of auk (Alca torda) common in the Arctic seas. See Auk, and Illust. in Appendix. See Cutwater, 3.

Razure

The act of erasing or effacing, or the state of being effaced; obliteration. See Rasure.

Razzia

A plundering and destructive incursion; a foray; a raid.

Re-ally

To bring together again; to compose or form anew.

re-assess re-assess

To revise or renew one's assessment of; as, we need to reassess our position to include the new information. Usually used without the hyphen.

Re-collect

To collect again; to gather what has been scattered; as, to re-collect routed troops.

Re-creation

A forming anew; a new creation or formation.

Re-form

To give a new form to; to form anew; to take form again, or to take a new form; as, to re-form the line after a charge.

Re-formation

The act of forming anew; a second forming in order; as, the reformation of a column of troops into a hollow square.

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