Emily Dickinson Lexicon

rashness, n. [Origin uncertain; perhaps OE *ræsc.]

Harshness; violence; torture; callousness; cruelty; heartless acts; unthinkable brutality; [fig.] wounds, bleeding, stripes, lash marks, and other physical traumas of Christ's crucifixion.

rat, n. [OE ræt.] (webplay: cat, noise).

Rodent; mouse; vermin; lowly pest; despised creature perceived as a nuisance by humans; animal often preyed upon by house cats; small, four-legged, hairy mammal that makes its home by gnawing holes in the walls of houses.

rate (-s), n. [OFr rate < L. rērī, think, judge.] (webplay: comparative).

Value; price; amount; quantity required in exchange for a desired object; [fig.] knowledge of the afterlife.

rather, adv. [OE hraðe.] (webplay: art, better, death, fear'd, God, hasty, hear, life, ready, slain, sought, speak, word).

1. Preferably; sooner; more readily; more willingly.
2. Instead; alternatively.
3. More correctly; more precisely.
4. Fairly; quite; particularly; especially; somewhat.
5. Phrase. “Rather than”: instead of; better than; more preferably than.

ratify (ratified), v. [Fr. ratifier < L. ratificāre; see rate, n.] (webplay: daily, purchase, wheat).

1. Confirm; settle; validate; legitimize; contract; seal; bond; agree upon; make legal; make permanent.
2. Classify; establish; certify; authenticate; prove; show to be genuine.
3. Approve; sanction; countenance; authorize; allow; endorse.

ratio, n. [L. rat-, ppl. stem of rērī, to think.] (webplay: common, dear, estimate, hour).

1. Proportion; comparative relation; appropriate relative quantity or magnitude.
2. Magnitude; size; amount; importance.

rattle (-s), v. [ME ratelen; probably of echoic origin.]

1. Shake; clatter; produce noise; make a clicking sound by striking repeatedly against another object; [fig.] spill; pour out; fall to the ground with a clattering sound.
2. Stir; produce noises characteristic of waking from slumber; [fig.] emerge; awake; arise; come forth.

ravage, v. [Fr. ravir, seize, take away < L. rapěre, take by force.] (webplay: heart, love).

Crush; devastate; destroy; tear apart; break into pieces; [fig.] hurt; afflict; sting; grieve; distress; cause sorrow for.

rave (-s), v. [OFr rêver, dream, be delirious.]

Shout; rage; rant; cry out; utter furious exclamations; vocally express anger.

ravel (-led), v. [Du. ravelen, tangle, fray out, unweave.]

Unweave itself; disentangle itself; become unknit; [fig.] spill; flow; run; fall; drop; escape.