ratline

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun (nautical) a small horizontal rope between the shrouds of a sailing ship; they form a ladder for climbing aloft

Apparently a corruption of raddling by folk-etymological reanalysis as rat + line.

The crew, perched in the ratlines, examined the horizon, which contracted and darkened by degrees. — Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Jules Verne
He touched his sou'wester to the girl and mounted the weather mizzen-rigging, running up the ratlines as a fireman goes up a ladder. — "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea, Morgan Robertson
Most of the men had gained the deck in safety, but many of those coming down by the ratlines were still some distance from the deck. — At Aboukir and Acre: A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt, G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

ratlin

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