rathole
noun, verb
rathole is spelled R-A-T-H-O-L-E: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 40 million words in written English, the 194,306th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rathole means “An entrance to a living area or passageway used by mice or rats” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rathole is ratholes.
How many letters and syllables are in rathole?
| Letters | 7: R-A-T-H-O-L-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 40 million words; the 194,306th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is rathole?
Rathole appears about once in every 40 million words in written English, the 194,306th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rathole?
- US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-rathole.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rathole
- ratholes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- ratholing participle, present
- ratholed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rathole mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An entrance to a living area or passageway used by mice or rats.
- 2
A living area used by mice or rats, or a similar living area used by other animals.
- 3
A particularly squalid human residence or other place.
- 4
An area of a silo that has undergone ratholing, so that material moves mostly through the centre and accumulates around the edges.
- 5
A pigeonhole.
verb
- 1
To hoard.
- 2
To take a conversation off topic, especially in technical meetings.
- 3
To surreptitiously or prematurely remove chips during a poker game.
- 4
To exit a cash game and re-enter with a smaller stack.
- 5
(of material) To empty only in the center of a hopper or silo, persisting circumferentially.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rathole in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Rattenloch |
| French | trou à rats, nid à rats |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rathole come from?
From rat + hole.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).