black rat

A common rat (Rattus rattus) found worldwide, especially in populated areas, having a black or dark brown coat.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

black rat

(Animals) a common rat, Rattus rattus: a household pest that has spread from its native Asia to all countries

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

black rat - common household pest originally from Asia that has spread worldwide

Rattus rattus, roof rat

rat - any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse

genus Rattus, Rattus - common house rats; upper incisors have a beveled edge

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

And one big black rat, who seemed to want to say something to the Doctor, now crept forward timidly along the rail, watching the dog out of the corner of his eye.

View in context

Both these varieties are one-third smaller than the common black rat (M.

View in context

It seems that rat kings occur in regions where two factors coincide: cold winters and the presence of the black rat. Indeed, the black rat is more common in Southern Europe, but there are mild winters there.

Rat kings in Estonia/Rotikuningad Eestis

While three of these species are a threat to crops in Laos, the main culprit is the Black Rat, Rattus rattus.

Outflanking the Laotian rice thieves: CSIRO scientists' research on mouse plagues in the Australian wheat belt is helping farmers in Asia reduce rice losses and other damage from local rodents. Their cunning trap barrier system is not only cheap, simple and deadly, it also greatly reduces the environmental impacts of rodenticide

The taxa Muridae Sigmodontinae with 31 native and one introduced taxa (the muskrat); the Muridae: Murinae comprising three introduced pest species (the Norwegian rat, the Black rat and the House mouse).

New records of sucking lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Anoplura) on rodents (Mammalia: Rodentia: Muridae) from Chile

Roof rat, black rat, house rat, ship rat (Rattus rattus)

Rodent-proof your house: use these techniques to keep your homestead vermin-free

He practiced for months with a harmless but cranky black rat snake.

Viper heat sensors locate cool spots. (Snake Pits)

The introduced black rat (Rattus rattus) is the rat generally found in towns and cities and has been responsible for the transmission of some nasty diseases through its urine and faeces, including salmonella, leptospirosis and plague.

The rat pack: how can you tell if the scuttling noises in your roof are being made by a protected native species or `disease-bearing vermin'?

That's as may be Cathy, but in my book people who snuggle up on the sofa of an evening with a boa constrictor round their necks and a black rat on their laps aren't exactly 100 per cent sane.

Carole Malone column: Sorry Cathy, but boas will be boas..

Eastern bluebird responses to nocturnal black rat snake nest predation.

The foraging ecology of the gray rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta spiloides) - visual stimuli facilitate location of arboreal prey

As a result, the Star Ledger reported: "The Senate yesterday passed a bill that would expand the list of activities exempted from the [law] to include the killing or disposal of a Norway brown rat, black rat, and house mouse." The Ledger quoted the bill's sponsor, Joseph Palaia (Republican of Monmouth), defending the legislation: "'People who beat their pets, deprive them of water or food, or needlessly kill and mutilate their animals should be treated as animals.'"

Let them eat values