ratchetsthup/down
—phrasal verbwithratchetverbuk/ˈrætʃ.ɪt/us/ˈrætʃ.ɪt/
toincrease/reducesomething over aperiodoftime
逐步增加／减少
Thedebateshouldratchetupawarenessof theproblemamongmembersof thegeneralpublic.这场辩论可以使普通百姓逐步认识这个问题。
Thegovernmentwasaccusedof ratcheting uppressureon thehealthservices.人们指责政府逐步向公共医疗卫生服务施加压力。
Costs have been ratcheted down by as much as 50percentsince 1999.自1999年以来，成本逐步降低了差不多有50%。