ratchet

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That’s because it gives bankers, responsible for pricing a transaction, more flexibility to ratchet down the credit spread—the amount a company pays above a benchmark—on each segment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

But a third factor is entangled in this equation: access to food and water, both of which become more difficult to acquire as wars spread and global temperatures ratchet upward.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026

And also, to Judge McKeown’s point: Won’t this one-way ratchet just completely collapse public confidence in the judiciary?

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

"The temporal ratchet mechanism fundamentally alters our view of how cytokinesis works," emphasized Jan Brugués, corresponding author of the study.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026

Really, just say, “Cash Money Records, takin’ over for the ’99 and the 2000,” and she suddenly becomes ratchet as hell.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas