ˈrat-rime Sc. and north.
Also 6 ratt-.
[f. rat, prob. onomatopœic (cf. rattle vb.) + rime.]
A piece of doggerel verse; a rigmarole.
| 1553 Douglas' æneis viii. Prol. 147 The royetest ane ragment with mony ratt rime. a 1585 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 146 Thy roustie ratrimes, made but mater. 1636 Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 404 What will a rat-ryme of words work upon an hard unrenewed heart? 1728 Ramsay Last Sp. Miser xix, With a lang rat-rhime of cant. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, ‘I cannot use a prayer like a rat-rhyme’, answered the honest clergyman. 1894 in Northumbld. Gloss. |